Ana de Armas & Ryan Gosling (r) star in Blade Runner 2049 |
Treasure Island
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Despite improving upon the original, Blade Runner 2049 requires patience, understanding and perhaps a second or third viewing. That's a lot to ask, given the film's demanding 163 minute runtime, but trust me, it's worth it. The sounds & visuals (cinematographer Roger Deakins) are stellar, as is Hampton Fancher's singular point of view screenplay/story; but it's the appropriately monochromatic performances from its brilliant cast (Gosling, Ford, Sylvia Hoeks, et al.) that take it to the next level. Villeneuve fills in the blanks, while setting a perfect pace, resulting in something that's "half as much, twice as elegant" as expected.
Grade: B+