Under pressure - BLADE RUNNER 2049 (no spoilers)

  Yesterday I went to the cinema full of expectations: the film I was about to watch was the sequel of a film which was part of the history of cinema. And I'm glad to say I didn't feel disappointed at all.
  If you have read my last post, you may already know I didn't watch "Blade Runner" a log time ago: if you are curious about this new film, I suggest you to watch the first film so that you can fully appreciate the story.

  The film I'm writing about is "Blade Runner 2049", directed by Denis Villeneuve and produced by Ridley Scott (who directed the first "Blade Runner"). The screenplay was written by the same writer of the first film, Hampton Fancher, and also by Michael Green. "Blade Runner 2049" stars Ryan Gosling (as K), Harrison Ford (as Rick Deckard), Ana De Armas (as Joi), Jared Leto (as Niander Wallace), Dave Bautista (as Sapper Morton), Sylvia Hoeks (as Luv) and Robin Wright (as Lt. Joshi).
  I also have to mention Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch for the soundtrack (and Vangelis, who composed the music of the first film) and Roger Deakins for the cinematography.

https://www.movietele.it/post/blade-runner-2049-film-sequel-cinema

  The audience will question the definitions of mankind, feelings, life, love, but more deeply because of the development of technology (the story takes place 30 years after the first film, in 2049): there are still replicants and blade runners, but the differences between them are hard to detect.

  There are a lot of different settings, a lot more than the first film (maybe due to the advanced possibilities of the computer graphic): there are endless landscapes which show the desolation and the decay of our planet, but also references to the pop culture, thanks to the neon light and the giant advertisement. There is still the "Cityspeak", which testimonies the high level of cultural crossbreeding of the future.
  I didn't like the fact there are not a lot of scenes on the street and of the life of the suburbs, maybe not to look like "Blade Runner", but instead I loved the wide framing which capture each corner of the scenes and the presence of the rain.

  It is still a noir-thriller film: the investigation covers almost the entire story, but in some occasions what the protagonist finds out is too predictable, so the film results in being less intense than the 1982 film. Also, there is not the surprise effect of the replicants, because the audience already know the story. In fact the two plots are connected, but they recount different facts.

  The protagonist is K, a blade runner who can look like Deckard only from the outside. K is troubled, split between two worlds, fragile. The spectator feels sorry for him and becomes empathetic, because he understand that K is a victim of his reality.
  I really like also Sapper Morton: he is a very important character for the plot, but unluckily he can be seen in very few scenes (Dave Bautista is very good in this role).
  Even Niander Wallace is a very interesting character: he is the formal villain, but not well developed. He is a charming and creepy villain, with glass eyes, who thinks to be like a god, but I would have liked to see him more often. As for Bautista, I think Jared Leto plays this role very well.

  My friend Sonia (with which I went to the cinema to watch this film) told me something very interesting I hadn't noticed about the colour palette of "Blade Runner 2049": in contrast with "Blade Runner", in this film there are more colours and not only the dark shades and the disturbing yellow of the "birthplace" of the replicants. I would have preferred to see that clear division of colour, even if in this film the shades are still dark and cold as in the first film.

  The soundtrack is perfect: not only new tracks, but also rearranged ones from the first film. Despite the 163 minute of duration, I wasn't able to look away from the screen and not only for the breathtaking landscapes: this was also for the captivating and thunderous music, with deep and throbbing tones which give me gooseflesh.

  The only thing that made me sad was not seeing the movie theatre full of people, especially on day one: I went to the cinema to watch the first show, but it was quite empty and also I didn't notice anyone of my age (apart from my friend). I think the topics of the film deserve to be known and discussed, considering the progress of technology, medicine and robotics.

  I hope that in the following days a lot of people would go to the cinema to watch this film, not only for the themes, but also because in my opinion it's visually and musically perfect.

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Bye for now

Yours, Silvia