Director: Denis Villeneuve
Year Released: 2017
Rating: 2.5
In this sequel to the 1982 Ridley Scott movie, "new model" replicant-hunter K (Ryan Gosling) - replicants being bioengineered 'people' - comes to the realization that "older" versions may have had the ability to reproduce (!), which causes LAPD chief Joshi (Robin Wright) to freak out and the head of the unscrupulous Wallace Corporation (Jared Leto) to dream of a war between humans and not-quite-humans. It's too needlessly ponderous for what's a painfully ordinary sci-fi script (that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, even on its own terms), but it is an intensely atmospheric movie that's meticulously designed to be stared at in awe: the cinematography is by the great Roger Deakins, and the crew that worked on the sets should be applauded for their attention to detail (to put it crudely, this is 'expensive wallpaper'). While it's nice to see Harrison Ford reprise his role as Deckard from the original, once he pops up, it becomes just another action picture. Just thinking aloud: between this and Spike Jonze's Her, are holographic girlfriends that 'sync' with attractive prostitutes the way of the future? If so, sing it with me: ♫ Joi to the World / To lonely boys without girls / Joi to Mr. Joker's God being a badass / Joi to Ana de Armas. ♫
