Blade Runner 2049

[Zombeaver]

So the trailer dropped yesterday:

In case I hadn't mentioned this before... I really love Blade Runner. It's my favorite film of all time. 

I'm cautiously optimistic for 2049. I couldn't be happier that Denis Villeneuve is taking the Director's role and not Ridley Scott. I haven't been too impressed with the stuff he's done post-Blade Runner, with the exception of The Martian. Prometheus, in particular, was a complete mess. While Prometheus was a prequel and Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel, they're both addendums to classic films made 30 years prior so if Prometheus was any indication, I wouldn't want Scott in the Director's chair. I've enjoyed everything I've seen by Denis Villeneuve; and that's not including The Arrival which I've yet to see but have heard nothing but good things. I really like Ryan Gosling, so that's a plus as well. At this point I'm just wondering... who's going to play opposite Gosling in the antagonist role? They're going to have a tough act to follow from Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty was the star of the show as far as I'm concerned, not Deckard). Jared Leto is listed in the cast so maybe that's it... If I had a vote it'd probably be for Mads Mikkelson. I'm actually kindof surprised that Ford is even in it considering he's repeatedly said that he didn't like Blade Runner. Mackenzie Davis (Halt and Catch Fire) and Lennie James (Snatch; The Walking Dead) are listed in the cast as well and I like both of them quite a bit.

It looks like they nailed the atmosphere based on the trailer, so that's encouraging. I'm a little worried about the score given that Vangelis isn't involved. That score is an enormous part of the original film - it really wouldn't be the same without it. The trailer for 2049 even uses some of the Vangelis score. Jóhann Jóhannsson is composing for 2049 and he's the same composer that Denis Villeneuve used in several of his previous films but honestly none of those films stand out in my mind for their scores - I guess I'll have to go back and listen to them again.

Overall I'm still optimistic and excited about it. It just... has a really really high bar that it's facing. Given that Blade Runner is my favorite film of all time, it's basically an impossible task, but even if it's not as good as the original that doesn't mean it can't be really great in its own right. Fingers crossed.

 

[LogicalEgo]

((spoilers if you have never seen Blade Runner or read the Phillip K Dick novel)) I am really hoping that Gosling is playing a younger replicant version of Decker and hunting his older self.

Edited February 9, 2017 by keltoigael

[Zombeaver]

So a new trailer released today:

My initial sortof stream-of-consciousness thoughts:

-Blade Runner isn't an action movie. I realize this is a trailer and trailers are designed to get people (i.e. people at large, not just raving Blade Runner nuts like me) to be excited about a movie, but it looks like they're making an action movie based on the trailer which, again, doesn't necessarily mean anything. I just hope they don't ruin the tone (and I'm not convinced that they will, but it's a concern).

-Asthetically I dig it, though it looks like a somewhat more muted color palette than the original.

-I'm not sure what I think about the music - part of me likes the modern variation on the classic Vangelis score, but another part of me thinks that what made the Vangelis score so special was how weird and unique it was (and still is) - the fact that it doesn't really sound like anything else; so while homage to a great thing isn't necessarily a bad thing, I hope they don't stick so closely to it that it doesn't have it's own unique voice (because that's a significant part of what made it great in the first place).

-Looks like they've got a great cast. I knew about Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, but I didn't realize Jared Leto, Mackenzie Davis (I'm a big Halt and Catch Fire fan), and Robin Wright were in it. I would say I'm concerned about Dave Bautista but Brion James was perfect for his role in Blade Runner, despite being a... well... not exactly stellar actor. So I think Bautista could be perfectly fine, so long as he's used well.

-Is that Ryan Gosling that's busting through the wall behind Harrison Ford in that one shot? The way it's edited certainly makes it looks like it. Seems like that would be a confirmation that he's a replicant if so...

-I'm fascinated by the idea of delving deeper into the "birthing" process of the replicants since that's not something they really went into in Blade Runner.

EDIT: Also, apparently The Dale finally went into production in the future.

I'm still trying to remain positive. I've still got my fingers crossed and while I'm not completely sold by everything in the trailer, it didn't make me thing "This is going to be terrible" either, which is a good sign.