Post by Celestial on Oct 15, 2017 10:11:53 GMT -5
Has anybody else been to see this film?
When I initally heard they were making a sequel to Blade Runner, I rolled my eyes, thinking it was another cheap cash-in on a classic film. Then the reviews began pouring it and they were all very positive? So I went to see it last night.
Yeah, it was as good as everyone says. The director has gone on record to say he is a big fan of the original and it shows.
Let me start off by saying this was a gorgeous film, in the same way a desert littered with dead trees and vultures circling over bones is beautiful. Like the original film, nowhere looks like somewhere you want to be, but it is shot beautifully and very artfully. It also retains a lot of the aesthetic of the first film, down to the things that would be obsolete these days, like references to the Soviet Union or Japanese companies everywhere. The backstory given to fill in the thirty years between the first film and this one also makes sense and it feels natural, like this is the logical progession of that world. There is a text crawl at the beginning to establish some of it, which I wonder if it could have been explained visually, since they esablish the new evil corporation in a really good way, down to what they do with replicants and what they want to achieve.
The pacing is also very slow, which might not make it for everyone, but that once again adds to it feeling like the first Blade Runner, since that was also very slow. It did have more action set pieces than the original, I will give it that, but none of them felt forced. They were all very organic.
Acting-wise, it was good too. I don't know much about Ryan Gosling as an actor, but he sold me on his character, Officer K. And the few places where he does have to show a lot of complex emotions are very, very compelling and heartbreaking. I totally believed the character arc and enjoyed it. Don't know as much about the other characters, but I can't think of anything too bad about them either (there is one, but I will talk about her in the spoilers, since I have a lot of thoughts.)
Now, the spoilery stuff:
The film does have set up for a sequel, but since it's underperforming, it's unlikely there will be one. I don't think it needs one. It ended nicely and while there are elements there that could be explored, they don't need to be. I feel that some things don't need to be shown and I am happy they did not show them.
This is definitely one of the best sequels to a film that I've ever seen, a sequel which actually deepens and expands the original. It made me appreciate the original a lot more knowing that this was where it was potentially headed. In my head, it stands aloneside Terminator 2 as one of the best sequels. And given it was made 30 years later and not by the same director, that's a blinking miracle. xD
So, anybody else see it? What did you think? Are you a fan of the original, and if so, does it compare? If not, what did you think?
When I initally heard they were making a sequel to Blade Runner, I rolled my eyes, thinking it was another cheap cash-in on a classic film. Then the reviews began pouring it and they were all very positive? So I went to see it last night.
Yeah, it was as good as everyone says. The director has gone on record to say he is a big fan of the original and it shows.
Let me start off by saying this was a gorgeous film, in the same way a desert littered with dead trees and vultures circling over bones is beautiful. Like the original film, nowhere looks like somewhere you want to be, but it is shot beautifully and very artfully. It also retains a lot of the aesthetic of the first film, down to the things that would be obsolete these days, like references to the Soviet Union or Japanese companies everywhere. The backstory given to fill in the thirty years between the first film and this one also makes sense and it feels natural, like this is the logical progession of that world. There is a text crawl at the beginning to establish some of it, which I wonder if it could have been explained visually, since they esablish the new evil corporation in a really good way, down to what they do with replicants and what they want to achieve.
The pacing is also very slow, which might not make it for everyone, but that once again adds to it feeling like the first Blade Runner, since that was also very slow. It did have more action set pieces than the original, I will give it that, but none of them felt forced. They were all very organic.
Acting-wise, it was good too. I don't know much about Ryan Gosling as an actor, but he sold me on his character, Officer K. And the few places where he does have to show a lot of complex emotions are very, very compelling and heartbreaking. I totally believed the character arc and enjoyed it. Don't know as much about the other characters, but I can't think of anything too bad about them either (there is one, but I will talk about her in the spoilers, since I have a lot of thoughts.)
Now, the spoilery stuff:
Harrison Ford is barely in this. He only appears in the third act, and while his presence was welcome and needed, he was not the best part of the film by a mile. But that says more about the film than him. Also, his characters seem to be acquiring a lot of kids. xD First Indiana Jones, then Han Solo, now this...
Yeah, I should talk about that. The whole plot is spurred on by the discovery of the bones of Rachel, the replicant from the previous film, who died giving birth to Deckard's child. Now, I was not sold on the romance in Blade Runner, at all. I thought it was the weakest point of the film, at best, unbelieveable, and at worst, downright creepy. The fact that his film tried to play it as this epic doomed love story really bothered me. The plot that came from it was interesting and compelling, just the background behind it was not perfect, but I cannot fault this film fully for it, since the first movie didn't do a great job of establishing that romance.
Now, the kid...at first, when they began to imply that K, who is a replicant himself, might be the kid, I was very skeptical. I figured the film was way more clever than to make its protagonist the Chosen One. And...yes, it was. The twist was insanely clever and provided some amazing depth to K's character, showing how desperately he wanted to be human. Heck, the replicant leader of the resistance (which does not get mcuh screentime in the film, sadly) tells him "we all want it to be us", which, wow, that's a brilliantly poigniant line and feeds in so well to the themes of this film.
I did want to talk about one particular character: Joi (whose name I missed the first time so I just called her Amazon-Alexa-Waifu in my head). She is a virtual holographic "girlfriend" of Officer K. At first, I did not like her inclusion in the film. I thought she was fanservice whose only real purpose was to be wish fulfilment. And...well, she is, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised she was wish fulfilment in-universe too, and it is made abundantly, even explicitly clear. Her whole point is to show K's isolation and loneliness, showing how cut off a replicant is from humanity. It is also possible to make a reading of her character as commentary on guys IRL who get virtual girlfriends who will obey their every whim and be whatever they want (heck, that's her selling point in-universe). She's a lovely foil to K and she helps by voicing a lot of his internal thoughts, which makes his thinking all the clearer. Now, the film does try to play the whole "is this programming or her own will?" card, but I found everything she is saying to be programming. I would have loved to see her rebelling a bit more and becoming her own thing instead of just continuing to be a waifu for K. xD;
One character who was my favourite was Chief Joshi, the police chief. I have a weakness for tough but maternal ladies in positions of power. A shame she died, but at least her death was very dignified.
Speaking of death...K seems to die at the end of the film, and I felt that was highly appropriate. It symbolises the end of his journey, and while he died for somebody else, it was a cause he chose for himself. He died following his own path, and not dying would have cheapened his character arc of growing to be his own person and finding a cause bigger than himself.
Yeah, I should talk about that. The whole plot is spurred on by the discovery of the bones of Rachel, the replicant from the previous film, who died giving birth to Deckard's child. Now, I was not sold on the romance in Blade Runner, at all. I thought it was the weakest point of the film, at best, unbelieveable, and at worst, downright creepy. The fact that his film tried to play it as this epic doomed love story really bothered me. The plot that came from it was interesting and compelling, just the background behind it was not perfect, but I cannot fault this film fully for it, since the first movie didn't do a great job of establishing that romance.
Now, the kid...at first, when they began to imply that K, who is a replicant himself, might be the kid, I was very skeptical. I figured the film was way more clever than to make its protagonist the Chosen One. And...yes, it was. The twist was insanely clever and provided some amazing depth to K's character, showing how desperately he wanted to be human. Heck, the replicant leader of the resistance (which does not get mcuh screentime in the film, sadly) tells him "we all want it to be us", which, wow, that's a brilliantly poigniant line and feeds in so well to the themes of this film.
I did want to talk about one particular character: Joi (whose name I missed the first time so I just called her Amazon-Alexa-Waifu in my head). She is a virtual holographic "girlfriend" of Officer K. At first, I did not like her inclusion in the film. I thought she was fanservice whose only real purpose was to be wish fulfilment. And...well, she is, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised she was wish fulfilment in-universe too, and it is made abundantly, even explicitly clear. Her whole point is to show K's isolation and loneliness, showing how cut off a replicant is from humanity. It is also possible to make a reading of her character as commentary on guys IRL who get virtual girlfriends who will obey their every whim and be whatever they want (heck, that's her selling point in-universe). She's a lovely foil to K and she helps by voicing a lot of his internal thoughts, which makes his thinking all the clearer. Now, the film does try to play the whole "is this programming or her own will?" card, but I found everything she is saying to be programming. I would have loved to see her rebelling a bit more and becoming her own thing instead of just continuing to be a waifu for K. xD;
One character who was my favourite was Chief Joshi, the police chief. I have a weakness for tough but maternal ladies in positions of power. A shame she died, but at least her death was very dignified.
Speaking of death...K seems to die at the end of the film, and I felt that was highly appropriate. It symbolises the end of his journey, and while he died for somebody else, it was a cause he chose for himself. He died following his own path, and not dying would have cheapened his character arc of growing to be his own person and finding a cause bigger than himself.
The film does have set up for a sequel, but since it's underperforming, it's unlikely there will be one. I don't think it needs one. It ended nicely and while there are elements there that could be explored, they don't need to be. I feel that some things don't need to be shown and I am happy they did not show them.
This is definitely one of the best sequels to a film that I've ever seen, a sequel which actually deepens and expands the original. It made me appreciate the original a lot more knowing that this was where it was potentially headed. In my head, it stands aloneside Terminator 2 as one of the best sequels. And given it was made 30 years later and not by the same director, that's a blinking miracle. xD
So, anybody else see it? What did you think? Are you a fan of the original, and if so, does it compare? If not, what did you think?