When I heard that a sequel for Blade Runner was coming out the first person I called was my dad. He is the one who turned me on to the original, although seeing it when I was younger honestly did nothing for me; A slow, dark sci-fi with little action and a lot of story didn't really do much for young Jon, but once I was old enough and finally understood what was going on I knew that it was sci-fi genius. Ridley Scott brought together a dark, twisted universe that seemed to be way ahead of its time, and a sequel seemed imminent.

Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 replicated (ed. note: BLADE RUNNER PUN!) the original in so many ways that it made you think you were just watching an extended version of the first film. It is a visually stunning masterpiece that deserves every bit of praise that it is getting. From the beginning, you get the feeling that you are in for a long ride, and the 164 minute run time proves as much, but don't be discouraged because it is worth it in the end. 

The performances from Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Jared Leto, Robin Wright, and especially Ana de Armas and even David Bautista, make this movie what it is. They just all seem to blend and work well together - The chemistry between everyone made you feel both highs and lows, and I like a movie that makes you feel. The emotions throughout this movie evolve so much, and just when you think "Ohhhh, now I know what's going on," you're proven wrong. 

Something that gets overlooked from time to time in a movie is the score, but for Blade Runner 2049 I feel it would be a dishonor to the composers if I didn't mention their names: Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer (yeah, that Hans Zimmer) absolutely knocked it out of the park. This score made this movie exponentially better, even if it was just the filler for the long-spanned scenes of the flying cars over Los Angeles, or the walk-ups to statues, or even K just eating rice at the food court. Magical. It fit the feel of the movie so well, and matched up with original perfectly.

I don't really want to say much more than, "Hey! go see this movie!", because I don't want to give anything away, but if you're a fan of the genre you will enjoy this to a T. Expect it to be very much like the first - Dark, elongated and in depth, with a dystopian/apocalyptic feel that keeps you guessing. This film gives a great expansion of Deckard's story, but very much its own.  You'll even see some homages that will bring you right back to 1982. 'Member the enhance scene? My dad even said after the movie that it was one of the better films he'd ever seen, and yeah, I'd completely agree.

9.8/10 Electric Sheep