Saw it last night with my 14 year old son.
He wasn't very impressed with Blade Runner when we saw it on BluRay a few months ago, and though I saw him squirming in his seat and moving restlessly every now and then, he said he loved Blade Runner 2049. He said he loved how you could just enjoy it as a thriller/action movie, but if you wanted, there were many more layers to the story.
As for me, I still think the first one is better. Blade Runner is more nuanced. Blade Runner 2049 is much more straight forward, the villains are villains, the good guys are good guys.
Let's put it this way: Batty is an antagonist. Luv is a villain. Tyrell is a (arguably) misguided genius who sees the beauty in his creations. Wallace (played wonderfully by Leto) wants to further mankind by enslaving a new race.
I loved the cinematography (there are some absolutely glorious moments), but the world of BR 2049 is not as engrossing as the one of BR. I think it tried too hard to go for Grand Vistas, whereas BR just puts you in the middle of a twisted, yet recognizable world.
I also missed Vangelis' music. While this was a great score and sound design, it had none of the eerie beauty and nostalgia of the original.
Ford was great, finally a role where he's not sleepwalking through his usual mannerisms, but actually seems to be feeling something. Gosling was great as well, but being what he is (and him knowing what he is), I missed that child-like lack of emotional maturity that Batty had. He felt a bit too Terminator-like sometimes. I also found it a bit disappointing that Gaff spoke English... he should've stuck to cityspeak. I also found him a bit too mellow.
As for the plot/story, I thought it was great.
While there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that a twist was coming, I did not see who it was going to be, and I thought it was really well done.
I realize I'm sounding a bit too negative, but don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic film, it just suffers a bit from having to live up to the first.
I hope I have time to watch it again, there's some amazing scenes in it, and the overall experience in the cinema is great. Villeneuve does not disappoint.
