BLADE RUNNER 2049

Ryan Gosling     Harrison Ford     Robin Wright     Ana de Armas     Jared Leto     Sylvia Hoeks     Mackenzie Davis

   The cinematography (Roger Deakins), special effects and other-world atmosphere (production design by Dennis Gassner) give this film’s story the mystery and spookiness it deserves.  The 1982 Blade Runner film, based on Philip K. Dick’s graphic novel, has been updated by screenwriters Hampton Fancher (who also worked on the earlier film) and Michael Green under the excellent direction of Denis Villeneuve.  It’s fast-moving and suspenseful, leading the viewer down garden paths that make it seem predictable, but ultimately is not.

     ‘K’ (Gosling) is a blade runner charged by his supervisor Lt. Joshi (Wright) to track down out-moded replicants made by the Tyrell Corporation and retire them.  The new ones, manufactured by Niander Wallace (Leto), who bought the Tyrell Corporation, are considered to be so human-like a special test has been devised to distinguish between replicant and human.  ‘K’ must be tested each time he returns to base to be sure that he has not been tampered with.

     Something comes up in one of his investigations that arouses his curiosity, and he begins to pursue it, against the orders of Joshi.  This search constitutes the main part of the story with all its complexity, assortment of figures, and dangerous encounters.  He does eventually find Deckard (Ford), the original Blade Runner, who has become a recluse, and who is not very happy to see him, but K has burning questions Deckard can answer—or so he thinks.

     The picture of the future that Blade Runner 2049 constructs is alarming as well as fascinating.  Identities merge and transform with ease, paranoia about who is who is rampant, sophisticated space ships for rapid travel seem to appear out of nowhere any time, and most of the buildings look like tool shops inside.  Digitized figures (many especially in the form of sexy women) tower over the city, which is teeming with multitudes.  At one point, a character says, “We’re all just looking out for something real”, which is like the viewer’s experience throughout the story.

     2049 continues with the existential questions of the first Blade Runner, having a lot to do with issues about what it means to be human.  Yet, although it is enlightening to be familiar with the previous film, 2049 stands on its own; it’s not necessary to have seen the first film to grasp the import of the current rendition.

With robotics in our near future, it behooves us to consider what it is to be human.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

ARRIVAL

Amy Adams     Jeremy Renner     Forest Whitaker     Michael Stuhlberg

            When Dr. Louise Banks (Adams) opens the film with musings about beginnings, endings, and time, it’s a clue about the construction of the story to follow.  And after a few scenes with Louise and her daughter, we hear about 12 alien spaceships that have landed around the world, one of which is in Montana where Louise lives.  That evening, there is a knock at the door, and Colonel Weber (Whitaker) tells her that based on her previous translation for the US government, they would like for her to translate a recording of a conversation with the aliens.  She responds that a recording is insufficient; she would need to see the speakers in person.

            So she is eventually flown with Ian Donnelly (Renner), a theoretical physicist, to the site, where they are charged with deciphering what the aliens seem to be saying.  Keep in mind that there are 11 other sites in the world where other governments are doing the same thing, in countries like China, Russia, and Pakistan.  Already, the U.S. media is firing up fears of the populace about the aliens, and the governments—including ours—are quick to worry about security and take a defensive-ready stance in case there is an invasion.  It never occurs to them that the heptapods may be contacting humanity for some other reason.

            The film makes good social commentary about fear of strangers and how quick some are to jump to conclusions based on few facts, and stand ready with finger on the trigger.  One paranoid voice (on talk-radio, for instance) can prompt domino-effect action among people and governments around the world.  Louise’s valiant attempts to reason and make scientific inquiries before taking such action is like a voice crying in the wilderness.  She holds our attention as we wait breathlessly to see how the story will turn out.

            Director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Enemy, Prisoners, Incendies) has made previous sage commentary about human impulsivity, action with incomplete information, questionable motivations, and doggedness in searching for the truth, and this film measures up to his previous work in suspense and human dramas with which we can all identify.  The music of composer Johann Johannson enhances the drama, being eerily modern or beautifully symphonic, depending on the scene, and Bradford Young’s cinematography makes some scenes memorable purely for their composition and beauty, as when we see the upright mystical spaceship for the first time surrounded by textured clouds. 

            Amy Adams pretty much carries this film with her intense visualizations, painstaking work through problems, and emotional accessibility.  It’s too bad that her heavy breathing—meant to show anxiety perhaps?—was so predominant in such a strong figure.  She sounded like Darth Vader; whereas none of the men were heard doing this.  I am also a bit curious about Jeremy Renner’s role; so much of the time his character is just standing around or asking Louise how she is.  I think that’s a shame, both because the actor seems wasted in this characterization and because I would think a physicist would have a much more active role in hypothesizing and in advising government officials.  (You’d probably never find the current physicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson adopting such a passive role!)

             I very much enjoyed the characterization of Louise as something of a seer who could see into the future but had elected not to try to affect it in any way.  It’s the kind of acceptance that would be beneficial in many of our human struggles.

This is a different kind of action film, one that deals with universal issues with slower paced, scientific measure.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland