Blade Runner 2049

Go see this movie.  It is absolutely worth your time.  You also don't need to have seen its predecessor, and you don't need a plot summary or spoilers to help you decipher the film; you can follow the story.

In fact, the less you read in advance about Blade Runner 2049, the better your movie-going experience will be.  Yes, that includes this blog entry; feel free to read the rest of this piece after you've watched the film once.

As strong as that endorsement is, let's be clear:  this picture has a lot of problems.  Some involve science, some involve story structure, and some involve its treatment of women; no woman here is ever far from the stereotype you will immediately be able to associate with her.

Despite all of that, though, you should watch the movie.  Visually, it is stunning, absolutely gorgeous, a ride through a future that is constantly overloading us on multiple levels.  It also asks great questions, important questions, and ones we cannot contemplate too much. 

The acting is uniformly strong.  Ryan Gosling's frequently unemotional performance style meshes perfectly with this role, but everyone in the movie plays their character well. 

Go see it.

I already look forward to watching it a second time.

Blade Runner 2049 might actually be good

As I wrote back in May, I never doubted that I would go see Blade Runner 2049 when it hit the theaters.  What I was uncertain about was whether the movie needed to exist at all and, given that it was about to, whether it had a prayer of being good.

From the early reviews--the film has a RottenTomatoes critics rating of 98% as I write this--the answer appears to be that the movie in fact may be not merely good, but excellent, a thoughtful and even mind-blowing (to some critics) sequel.

I'm by no means convinced that the critics are right, but I have now gone from planning somewhat reluctantly to catch the movie to being downright excited about it.

Until it appears next week, we can all enjoy this trailer.



I will report my own thoughts on the film once I've seen it.

Do we really need

a sequel to Blade Runner?

No, we absolutely do not.

That said, will I go watch Ryan Gosling try to fill Harrison Ford's shoes in this sequel, Blade Runner 2049?

Yes, yes I will.  I just can't stop myself; I don't even want to.