Blade Runner: Now I have a Machine Gun, Ho...Ho...Ho...

So after about an hour and twenty minutes into Blade Runner:2049 I thought I was watching a science fiction masterpiece.

And then Ryan Gosling shows up in his flying car and shoots down a couple of police cruisers.  They had machine guns? Who knew?

Actually I liked the ensuing fight scene, but the movie falls apart in the third act.

Up until then we have an excellent science fiction film. 2049 feels like and is paced like Blade Runner without being derivative or nostalgic, that is until the end when the film becomes derivative and nostalgic. Fans of the original will see it right away. You'll know its coming.

The Los Angeles of 2049 is dystopian, Blade Runner meets Soylent Green. It's snowing in Los Angeles and the city is protected from a rising ocean by a massive seawall. The place is crowded. Technology is everywhere though, Replicants, holograms, drones, etc, etc, and these are well executed.

Ryan Gosling plays K-8675309 or Kay (eh! eh!) trying to track down a child supposedly conceived by Jake Deckard and Rachel. His performance is excellent. Sylvia Hoeks plays the evil Replicant like the Terminator. Harrison Ford returns to fuck up yet another one of his classic roles.

Like the original, Blade Runner 2049 is about life, and meaning and humanity. Whose more human, the people who blow away Replicants or the Replicants and holograms that just want to be human?

Blade Runner 2049's answer is humanity is scum.

Tuesday Tally

Blade Runner Edition

We last saw Blade Runner about 1990 when it was still totally cool that Harrison Ford was in this cutting edge sci-fi movie. We tried to watch Blade Runner a few years ago but grew board.

With the release of Blade Runner 20-whatever we decided to watch Blade Runner: The Directors Cut.

Here are our thoughts on the film:

1-Even in 2017 the setting and special effects are magnificent.

2-Rick Deckert is obviously a Replicant (at least in this version). Our understanding is that Rdley Scott keeps George Lucasing this film.

3-Rutger Haur is the real star of Blade Runner:

4-From the synth soundtrack to the Japanese gadget inspired tech, the film feels like 1982. So does LA being colonized by Asians in 2019. Wrong demo group, Ridley.

5-Harrison Ford is often criticized for his 'flat' acting here. But his style was a real interesting change in 1982 after Star Wars and Raiders. Also, watch that speech again, watch Ford's non-verbal acting. Well done.

6-The Replicants are the good guys. They're the only ones that show any humanity and compassion.

This is a classic sci fi film and we give Scott credit for his cutting edge innovation.  That saids parts of Blade Runner just don't hold up well, the movie moves slooooow.  We're interested in how a young person whose never watched before would react. There is a cult of Blade Runner, populated by people who like to say they love Blade Runner. We merely appreciate the film.