There were several interesting films available on October 7, but my highest priority had to be “Blade Runner 2049.” Even though the film was almost three hours long, I relished every minute. No, it did not answer every question from the ambiguous 1982 original, but it did provide possible answers for some, as well as introduce some new puzzles. Was the 35-year wait worth it? Yes, but I hope the next one comes out a little sooner than 2052; I don’t plan to be around by then.
The cast is good. I have not had much use for Ryan Gosling, but he is very good as the new generation replicant who is tracking down the few surviving older replicants; however, Harrison Ford steals the show once the two protagonists collide.
The photography and set design are essential ingredients of the story. The dystopia of the 1982 version has collapsed into something far more bleak. One scene in an orphanage makes Dickens’s “Oliver Twist” seem Edenic. I use that term deliberately since there is more than a whiff of Genesis or “Paradise Lost” in the dialogue.
I saw the 3-D version; I suspect some of the sets will lose their visual impact in a 2-D version. Even so, it is worth seeing regardless of the format.