Friday, October 13, 2017

Blade Runner 2049 in 150 Words or Less

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Sterile as a freshly unwrapped hospital sponge the best thing about Blade Runner 2049 is its surefooted commitment to boredom - blast me if you want but Ridley Scott's original film is boring too; boring not as a pejorative but merely a descriptor. A kinder phrasing would probably be patient, but I mean boring. Problem with the sequel is we've been bored by all this before - we've luxuriated in this dystopia in a million things since, and I don't think Villenueve & Co. bring much new to the table. It's pretty, but almost entirely in an obvious way - I can't really think of a single shot that made me gasp with real awe. (Arrival it ain't.) And its world feel big and empty, and save Luv herself (a deviously splendid Sylvia Hoeks) sparingly populated with shit worth caring about to a fault.
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7 comments:

Adam said...

It jumps the shark so hard once Harrison Ford shows up and he and Gosling trade cute one-liners. From there, they retcon Rachel as a baby making machine, it introduces elements for sequels we'll never get since it's a flop, and then Ford literally sits out an action sequence and looks like he just wants to go back to the retirement home. Longest 9 hours or whatever of my life.

creamycamper said...

Boring is exactly what I thought. I looked around the theater a couple times and many people had their heads resting on the seat like they couldn’t wait to get out of there. Very disappointing.

Sherri P. said...

Thank you.
I have found the positive reviews confounding. Upon leaving my friend and I agreed to let each other know if we are ever so bored by a movie again so we can leave. Three hours of my life watching Gosling mope. Nope.

Scott said...

Thank you! I am confused by all the praise. As you say, it looks good, but not in strikingly new ways. I thought the sound work was very good, as were the design choices relating to Wallace's lair, and I enjoyed Luv. But otherwise, eh at best, and the script was simply kind of bad (and/or obvious).

Anonymous said...

I have some issues with the film but I absolutely loved it. I was completely immersed from frame one. But I can see how if you are not with the tone of the film from the get go it's hard to stay with it throughout its near 3 hours runtime. And I don't get the hate for Gosling. He has proved to be quite a capable actor from his filmography and he's great here.

Anyway I am a pretty boring person myself so maybe my take on this film isn't worth much.

Burgess Shale said...

I had to leave a comment, even though I haven't seen it yet, because I couldn't pass up the opportunity of being required to tick the "I'm not a robot." box.

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