By Xander Alsup
Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer
Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer
“Blade Runner 2049” is a ride to say the least, although not in the classic sense.
“Blade Runner 2049” is the most recent film of renowned director Denis Villeneuve. So far, Villeneuve has directed a string of highly praised films, ranging from 2013's “Prisoners” to his recent hit “Arrival” (More info can be found about Villeneuve at http://www.imdb.com/).
Going into the film, I'm sure there are plenty of people wondering if “Blade Runner 2049” is the movie for them, and to that question I must give a complicated answer.
“Blade Runner” is an extremely slow movie. It takes its time with literally everything, often breaking up dialogue with long sullen pauses. The pauses seem to pan around the environment, creating an atmosphere that’s as thick as molasses. Sometimes it requires something akin to a steak knife to cut through.
This works perfectly for people who can immerse themselves in the universe Villeneuve sets up on the foundations and ideas presented first by filmmaker Ridley Scott. Although yes, even the first movie was an adaption of a novel, the sequel is not related to the original novel in any way.
That being said, if you find yourself to be indifferent to the world presented by “Blade Runner,” you may grow to loath this film after the first hour. Keep in mind that this movie is about three hours long. I have to admit that I enjoyed almost every second of it. As with a lot of things with this movie, your mileage may vary.
First, let’s talk about the lead actor’s performance. Ryan Gosling plays the key role of inspector K, a blade runner who has the dirty job of hunting down and killing beings known as replicants. In a nutshell, there was a company known as Tyrell that was bought out by a man known as Mr. Wallace. Although blade runners existed before, they are now used to kill older replicants made by the Tyrell Corp.
To be honest, I didn’t expect anything from Ryan Gosling, who usually plays the exact same character in every movie he’s been in so far. Although Gosling keeps a stone-cold stare during the film, it fits his character, and it makes his character progression later in the film that much more powerful. This performance doesn’t dip for a second, showing that Gosling is capable of emoting if he just has a director that can push him to where he needs to be. Harrison Ford doesn’t really come into the film until the halfway mark, but his performance is stellar none the less.
Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to discuss the film’s plot without ruining certain twists, of which there are many. So the best I can do is give a simplistic overview of the main plot thread introduced at the beginning of the film, which constantly changes throughout.
In a nutshell, Inspector K finds information that leads to the discovery that an android was capable of conceiving a child. Out of fear, his superior, ‘played by Robin Wright,’ orders him to hunt down the living child and kill it to keep other androids from possibly finding out about this occurrence. This is only the setup for the movie and by no means represents the rest of the film. In fact, the focus constantly switches between multiple subplots that are well explored and have interesting payoffs.
To my surprise, not even one of my professors has seen “Blade Runner 2049.” In fact, out of all my classes, I just found one other classmate who has seen the film. Luckily, his opinion was somewhat opposite of my own (although he still enjoyed most of the film to a certain extent). For example, he loved the plot of the movie as well as the narrative twists and themes the film explores. He had a genuine problem with the pacing of the film, citing how certain scenes dragged on for far too long and almost worked to muddle the plot rather than helping it.
Of course, I’m part of the camp that views these elements as character/world building, although the other side of the argument is also completely valid. He also loved Jared Leto’s character, who is admittedly over the top to the point of it being comical. It wasn’t cringeworthy and overworked like his performance in “Suicide Squad.”
To be conclusive, I truly do believe that “Blade Runner 2049” is worth the shot if you’re not looking for a hardcore action movie. But if you want to watch a movie that is more interested in pulling you into its universe rather than pulling you through a completely linear narrative or action-packed set pieces, this movie may be for you.
About the writer: Xander Alsup is currently majoring in Mass Communication. Alsup usuallyfocuses on political issues, although he is also passionate about film and music.
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