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zebra2  ·  2377 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Blade Runner 2049 Discussion Thread [Spoilers!]

I saw it the other night and I thought it was great. Blade Runner 2049 spoilers ahead, obviously:

I really liked that they preserved the pacing and feel of the original. The pacing was an essential part of the atmosphere-building in the first one. Lots of modern blockbusters dump this for whatever reason and end up feeling hollow or rushed.

I didn't feel like the plot was somehow lacking. It was a great exploration into how one is defined by memory, and the humanity/artificiality themes were handled in a persuasive and not overly ham-handed way. The emotionlessness was thematically important. For K, the numbness was mainly a facade that you get too see crack in the scene with that memory lab thing. For Joi, it's easy to see her as entirely unreal, yet Joi's story arc mirrored K's with the self-sacrifice and all. In the end, it doesn't really spell out if there was anything other than a desire-fulfilling program in Joi, or any genuine uniqueness or individuality. If there's a sliding scale of artificiality-to-humanity, she's on the less human side, yet K relates strongly to her for obvious reasons.

I thought both the aesthetic and music were done excellently. Definitely in league with the first, even if the soundtrack doesn't have as much replay-ability as Vangelis', which is totally understandable.