Blade Runner 2049

The amazing jackets return. ———Spoilers/Review——— The cinematography is on point, and the film starts with a nice snappy pace that gets you invested. The pacing does slow down, just like the first Blade Runner, but at least the plot is better in this one. This one doesn't have imagery or scenery quite as impressive as the first, but it's still incredible in its own way. The original had a really glowy, shiny aesthetic and a lot more charm, while 2049 spends most of its time in decrepit, trashy areas with a dark, neutral palette. Ryan Gosling as K is just incredible. Though, he seems to have a slight smirk as his resting face that i can't unsee. K is a very sad character, living as a replicant slave to the system, getting called a skinjob everywhere he goes, only to return home to a digital partner. The twists he goes through were rough. He thought he might've actually been human, but he wasn't. He was just a small piece of the puzzle. Hearing "You look lonely" and "You look like a good joe" from the hologram must've been crushing. Turns out those words weren't unique to him, but programmed into every Joi. We get introduced to the old Deckard later in the film, who starts out playing hide and seek with the unarmed K. It's funny that when a police officer walks up to someone saying they just want to ask a couple of questions, it's usually the most suspicious thing they could say. But when K said it to Deckard, he genuinely meant it. Harrison Ford kept up the weary and paranoid nature of Deckard quite well. Wallace was psychotic. The monologue he gave when introducing the new model set the tone for his character really well. Trying to breed and procreate with replicants... i guess they hit the bullseye casting Jared Leto as him. Sylvia Hoeks as Luv, Wallace's right-hand woman, was also perfectly cast. The way she killed Coco, the LAPD forensic investigator, was brutal and genuinely caught me by surprise. The interrogation scene about K's whereabouts with Lieutenant Joshi, or "Madam" was great as well. Sylvia really nailed Luv's emotional yet cold and calculated nature. She was genuinely menacing. The ending is perfect. The snow falls like a clean veil over everything bad, K powers through to the very end, and finally rests after getting Deckard to see his daughter. The music complements the sequence amazingly. Though, the film could've been shorter and the rest could've been edited to be snappier outside of just the beginning. The slight pacing issues snubbed this film of masterpiece status for me personally. In conclusion: GREAT.