Blade Runner 2049 spoiler free review

Making a good sequel is an extremely difficult task. Finding the right balance between further exploring the elements that made the first movie successful and creating new and interesting advancements in characters and worlds is a very enviable skill, particularly as many sequels tend to end up ruining the charm of their predecessors in the interest of making it 'bigger and better'. A good example of this is the recent 'Kingsman' sequel. Don't get me wrong - its a good movie. Yet it pales in comparison to the first, as it's attempts to be even more outrageous and ridiculous crossed the line into stupidity and the message of the original was seemingly cast aside. This is coupled with the fact that Blade Runner came out over 30 years ago (to a critical panning upon release), meaning that the sequel had to appeal to an almost wholly new audience, whilst still pleasing the cult fan base. Thankfully, Denis Villeneuve has passed this tricky test with flying colours, as Blade Runner 2049 is simply spectacular.

Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is one of the new era of Blade Runners, tasked with 'retiring' all prior models to Niander Wallace's (Jered Leto) supposedly more compliant Nexus 9 variants. K discovers a long buried secret that could potentially reshape society and the existence of replicants. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) in search of answers to the mystery he has unraveled. There really isn't much more you need to know going in to this movie. There are many twists and revelations (some of which coming very early in the film) which I feel are made all the more engaging if you don't know they're coming.

The performances are fantastic throughout, from all members of the cast. Ryan Gosling absolutely kills this roll and cements his place as one of my favourite current actors. His performance is immensely captivating, as a cold hearted killer who gradually becomes more emotionally conflicted as the story progresses. He's likeable, relatable and serves as a great action hero. Harrison Ford also really shines. His role is briefer than you might expect, but seeing how Deckard has changed and grown in the years since the first movie is entertaining and quite moving. Jared Leto goes all in, as he so often does, and to his credit he does come off a sinister and unhinged. Sylvia Hoeks is surprising and brilliant. She serves as Wallace's slave but also a Terminator-esque killing machine that can murder a man with a single tap. She's menacing and terrifying to watch, probably stealing the spotlight from Leto as the films main villain.  Dave Bautista offers perhaps his best performance in a movie so far and Robin Wright, Ana de Armas and Carla Juri all do amazing work in brief yet impressive roles.

Visually, the film is incredible. Just like the original, its a perfect blend of digital and practical effects that are all stunning to watch. The colour palette alone is a thing to behold - the rich orange of the Las Vegas dessert, the dark gritty blues of the LA streets and the sterile whiteness of Wallace's facilities all complement and contrast each other exceptionally well. Sound is also handled very well - the mix of screen shaking synthesisers and eerie silences gives a much more sinister tone to the score than the first movie and creates some extremely tense scenes.

Of course, propping up this visually baffling universe is an intriguing and clever narrative. Its fascinating to see how people opinions of replicants has changed as the line between humans and robots becomes increasingly blurred and serious questions are posed about what it means to be human and what does it mean for something to really 'live'. The ideas are explored in much more depth here than in Blade Runner and its extremely welcome.

As much as I enjoy the first movie, a fair criticism is that it does drag at times and whilst the long unbroken shots of the city skylines are breathtaking to look at, they do go on a bit in parts. You might expect a similar fate for the sequel, given that it comes in at a whopping 2 hours and 43 minutes. The movie does feel long, but at no point does it ever bore you. The flat out action scenes are, just like the original, few and far between but what we do get is fantastic. Spinner crashes, gun fights and replicants beating the shit out each other in very visceral yet stylised ways. Yet a lot of the film creates tension and excitement in other ways. Lengthy, unnerving silences and the increasing aggressiveness of the score offer just as much to the audience as any of the action. The way that the action is blended with the lingering shots of mesmerising scenery is done perfectly and means that the movie never starts to meander in the way the first did.

I cannot urge you enough to rush out and see Blade Runner 2049. It's in my opinion the perfect sequel. It does justice to the original through homage, whilst advancing the universe and it's characters in new and meaningful ways. Visually exceptional, captivating storyline and outstanding performances. One of the best films of 2017.

5/5 stars.