I watched it a week or 2 ago, held off because I thought it was gonna suck as a sequel to a cult classic that has been picked apart. Thought it was gonna revolve around the whole 'Deckard' thing which would've been ZZZZ.
I was absolutely floored by it, best sequel I've seen in a very long time and one of the better movies too. I can see why people complained about the runtime but I couldn't get enough of it.
Gutted it didn't break even.
I think I mentioned somewhere early in this thread my thoughts on the sequel when it got announced, and my initial trepidation of it. I was of the mindset that Blade Runner absolutely did not need a sequel, not to mention one that was coming some 35 years after the original. That's crazy to even think that it's been that long. As you rightfully say, anything left of the shelf that long invariably tends to end up a total mess when revisited, especially when sequels are concerned. It wasn't, though. It felt like a film carefully mulled over, and crafted in a way that not only disregards the original in any kind of fan service manner, but managed to stand on it's own, on its own merit, on its very own terms. It never felt like pandering, and it felt like a very natural progression as if the world of Blade Runner was real, and actual time of 35 years had passed within it. That's a long time by anyone's reckoning, so it only made perfect and logical sense that characters like Deckard would have moved on, and he was rightfully pushed into the last act of the film, instead of it all revolving around him. Rachel's character too was elevated by actually not being in the film, but instead became the focus of it in a different way, again, in a logical manner that made sense. All of that is a very rare thing to have been pulled off in such a satisfying and competent manner, unlike most other big hitter sequels *cough*Star Wars*cough* out there.
I've now seen it twice. Once on the big screen, and at home, and it loses absolutely nothing. In fact, second time viewing it was better, even if it didn't recreate the bone shaking bass you get from its fantastic soundtrack sitting in the theatre. I'm really struggling to find flaws in it in any glaring manner. Even the run time, which some have issues with - and I can understand why, but I don't - is fine by me. It's a film that not only does the original justice, but surpasses it in every conceivable manner, and I can't speak highly enough for it. By far the best film made in 2017, not only because it was a brilliant film, but because of what was at stake; because of the risks involved, and the manner in which it was executed. It's a very rare breed of a film, and to be fair, to just say it was the best film of 2017 is doing it a disservice. It's hands down, one of the best films ever made.
