Movie Review: Blade Runner 2049

4 stars out of 5

When I was young, I’m fairly certain I had a paperback of Blade Runner, inside of which I learned the book was originally titled Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Although, proving the fallacy of memory — which is a big theme in this film — in my mind I owned that book a few years before the movie came out.) I didn’t read that paperback. And I didn’t see Blade Runner fully or on the big screen till the last big anniversary screening, which renewed the debate about whether or not Deckard was a replicant. Well, I don’t know much about replicants, but they probably don’t age, do they? If they don’t, then Deckard is human, because Harrison Ford is grey and grizzled (yet fit) in this one.

Edward James Olmos also returns, albeit briefly, from the original, as well as someone else. (Hey, no spoilers!) But the real star is Ryan Gosling, as a 2049-era Blade Runner. The latest generation of replicants — built by weird, evil Jared Leto’s mega-company — are docile. But there are still some old bad boys out there who have to be “retired.”

The cast, with one exception, is excellent. I’m a big fan of Gosling, and he’s great as someone haunted by questions about his own history. Ford gets to be more serious than he was as Han Solo. Robin Wright is a standout as Gosling’s boss at the LAPD. (Future L.A. still looks like 80s Tokyo, but 30 years more run-down.) Also great are Carla Juri as a memory specialist, Sylvia Hoeks as Ledo’s no-nonsense second-in-command, Ana de Armas as Gosling’s Alexa on steroids, and David Dastmalchian as Coco. (Poor sweet Coco.) And cool to see Avon Barksdale show up for a hot second.

Not so good is Leto, who overplays both his character’s evilness and his weirdness. In a long scene late in the movie, he almost grinds proceedings to a complete halt. And there’s a non-Leto sequence where I was confused how A and B led to C and D. But otherwise, the film is well-plotted and well-paced. Director Denis Villeneuve (this time spelled correctly) again keeps things slow as he did in Arrival. But where I found that one boring, this movie kept me hooked from scene to scene, and absolutely kept me guessing till the end. And the filmmakers reward our patience with some thrilling action at the climax.

I really appreciate that this is a true sequel instead of a reboot or remake. And once again it’s thinking-person’s sci-fi, meaning it may take a long while to find an audience, and we’ll have to wait another 35 years for part III.