DarthSkywalker
Your Most Aggro Pal (he/him)
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None of these things are "subplots" or side stories imo. They are very much a part of the plot of the film.different strokes
it can't begin to touch the original for me, it's too awkward and unwieldy with the Her rip-off subplot with Joi (though that relationship does serve a strong purpose in the film, if distracted from too much by the film's diffuse focus once Deckard enters) and, even worse, the cliched resistance subplot that should have been cut from the film entirely. I don't like that the film retroactively grafts world-shattering import on the events of the original, which was somewhat unique in its genre for having an epic world but an intimate story, a simple sci-fi noir tale with existential themes. that said, 2049 does manage to take that starting point to an interesting place with the questions posed by Leto's character to Ford in his "heaven," and Ford's response is heartbreaking and powerful and simple, the way he delivers it and the way the film frames it. "I know what's real." In that, it doesn't matter if Deckard is human or not, or if his relationship with Rachel was constructed or not. What he feels, and what they shared, was real. And Ford manages to bring what feels like the weight of years of pain and doubt and memory and finally resolution to that line. It's beautiful and it really makes me accept how 2049 builds off the original, no matter my other qualms.
Anyways, 80% of 2049 is quite good, and I don't have a problem with the pacing, just the unnecessary plot elements. with some tweaks and excisions, might have even ended up a masterpiece in my mind.
but it still wouldn't have been as good as the original for me. which is no slight on 2049, it's kind of amazing they even managed to make a good sequel all these years later to a movie like Blade Runner. but Blade Runner is a Top 20 all-time movie for me.
It's not a Her rip off. Unless Her was a Blade Runner or even Halo rip off. t: One of my favorite aspects of Joi is how it touches on the general hierarchy of what it means to be "alive" in the film, without it being "in your face". And that is outside of what happens between her and K.
Love the Resistance. A natural offshoot to how Replicants are treated, and a major factor in the overall plot of the film.
The original Blade Runner to me is a bit like Star Wars. I love both, but The Empire Strikes Back is The Empire Strikes Back. 2049 takes a fantastic foundation and builds on it in a way that just resulted in a film superior in its craftsmanship, with just more too it. Like I said before, I think 2049 makes me like the original less, because how it gives me what I love about the original, but done so much better. Even K compared to Deckard. Deckard in the original film doesn't feel like a character in comparison. When K is on those steps at the end of the film, I feel like I have been on an all time great journey, with a character I legitimately care for.