Much Hollywood head-scratching after BLADE RUNNER 2049 opened earlier in 2017 to relative indifference. Vats of pre-release puffery, social-media buzz, hot young lead/returning star, deep-think rehash essays, yet nothing jumpstarted a sequel 35 years late. And a look at the underperforming original (in any of three iterations: Initial Release; Director’s Cut; Final Cut) shows this was always a film (and concept) to be adored & fetishized, but more ‘acolyted’ than liked. At heart, it’s no more than a futuristic hard-boiled Raymond Chandler pastiche, imagined by a team that’s seen, if not digested, more Stanley Kubrick than is good for them. (Think 2001/’68; CLOCKWORK ORANGE/’71.) Today, you’re apt to notice unconvincing, stiff miniature model work & glossy, but dated ‘80s Tokyo Neon ‘Pop,’ as a prematurely exhausted/grumpy Harrison Ford hunts down rogue ‘Replicants’ (animatronic beings) who’ve gone ‘off the grid.’ A fashionably distressed look in surfaces can still pull you in thru the incessant city rain, at least superficially, but director Ridley Scott (than as now) indulges atmosphere over plot. (Always dicey as storyteller; hence the three re-edits.) Though you probably can’t blame him for the Christ-like trappings of main adversary Rutger Hauer (dove of peace; nail thru hand; Yikes!). As for the new 2049 fable of man, model & mortality (directed by Denis Villeneuve; not seen here), expect growing cult following and three profit-making re-edits.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: As Ford’s replicant consort, Sean Young sports a Joan Crawford look for most of the film before letting her hair down (literally), winding up with no personality at all and killing the big romantic/fatalistic walk-off finish.
DOUBLE-BILL: Instead of moving forward with BLADE RUNNER 2049, why not fall back to the beginning, the Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlowe beginning, with MURDER, MY SWEET/44.
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