Thirty-five years after the iconic Blade Runner hit theaters, director Denis Villeneuve brings his vision of the dystopian future to life in Blade Runner 2049. Fortunately, Blade Runner 2049 is a clear sequel, so we are spared another tiresome reboot/remake. Unfortunately, like most sequels, it’s far inferior to the original.
Blade Runner was a masterfully made noir that raised existential questions about what it means to be human. Blade Runner 2049 is the tedious, self-indulgent film you’d expect to get if a bunch of self-absorbed college theater majors were suddenly handed a huge budget. It tries way too hard to be profound, and takes way too long to do it. Continue reading
Quan Ngoc Minh (Chan) is a dangerously hypercompetent ex-military guy who is lovingly devoted to his daughter Fan (Katie Leung). Unfortunately for Quan, Fan is not taken or kidnapped at the start of the film, she’s blown up. Convinced that high-ranking Irish minister Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan) knows who the bombers are, Quan relentlessly hounds Hennessy with steadily escalating violence and destruction to get him to give up the names.