Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Right, Blade Runner 2049. Here we go. Gorgeous film but it needs to settle before discussing. Young blade runner, K played by Ryan Gosling uncovers a secret that leads him down the path of Deckard, Harrision Ford's blade runner, who has been missing for 30 years. 

The thing I was most excited about when this film was announced was the crew. My man Roger Deakins back to his old tricks being 13 time Oscar nominated for his cinematography. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch there for original sound, edited by Joe Walker and of course directed by Denis Villeneuve. Taking Blade Runner (1982) out of the equation that's a pretty impressive line up for a sci fi film, half of which have worked together before on the likes of Arrival (2016) Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015). 

Those aspects do not let you down. The sound was naturally industrial. It's the only way to describe it, it feels organic alongside the environment. In general it rises, it's subtle and not overtly there but as it builds it becomes a vital part in many scenes. The editing is good but to be honest a second thought, but that doesn't make it bad. It's in no way distracting, it compliments the wide shots by giving them room to breath. Pacing matches the tone but on more than one occasion  I felt myself conscious of the run time. 

It is stunning. We knew that from Deakins name, let alone the trailers and posters. The world isn't just created it's maintained from the 1982 original. The bleak dystopian back drop has been done many times but the mixture between high tech and low nature is beautifully done. There's contrast between empty barren lands which once held life and the damp overrun cityscapes. There's a clever mix of dulled colours with neon and life. IMAX was a great choice, and I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity. Gorgeous wide shots which could have any frame a picture. And if you consider the amount of sfx that would have been added then you have an even higher admiration for those getting the base shots. 

Everything in the frame, every shot emphasises the themes. Visually water played a big part, you can read into this as much as you'd like. Reflection, ripples, memories being be lost in time like tears in rain. There's multiple shots through rain, through weather soaked windows, with light bouncing off moving water. It's calming and thinking about it is the most natural thing in the entire film, or I guess the world.

The other more commonly discussed theme from Ridley Scott's original is what defines humanity, what makes you human, can a replicant have a soul? Gosling's K, a Nexus 8, struggles with the idea of retiring (executing) something that has been born. He is then challenged with the idea that he himself may have been born. He's been told he does well even though he doesn't have a soul yet also been told that people forget that he isn't human. He has memories implanted in him that he knows aren't real but is also certain they are. He has feelings for Joi, a programmed hologram that says what you want to hear, but really how many steps above her is he, is it just the physicality that separates them? Gosling is fantastic, a great canvas to paint a replicant onto.

Joi, his love interest is played by captivating Ana de Armas, who is beautiful and loving. Her special effects are wonderfully done, her hologrammed nature is never overstated but it used to its full potential. A scene with K and natural Mackenzie Davis (who you might recognise from Black Mirror's Emmy Award Winning San Junipero episode) is so incredibly done I didn't want it to end. It's a very interesting scene and shows the individuality that Joi appears to have by trying a unique way of making K happy with Davis' character Mariette. Though unique to us that's only due to us not being accustom to the technology available. 

In general the cast were great. Robin Wright was great as expected as Lieutenant Joshi, one of the few humans we actually interact with. Dave Bautista was great though far more brief than I expected. Jared Leto was a bit weird as always, I think almost every scene he was in his voice echoed and reverberated back to us. I think we got an odd amount of the character, didn't get as much development that could have been interesting but also his on screen presence wasn't vital in every scene.

Though, I may be in the minority here, but I think the same about Harrison Ford. Without spoiling it, he didn't need to be in the movie. His on screenpresence was just not necessary. Yes he has a great scene with Leto and yes he seems to work with Gosling fine but at this point it's hard to see him as Deckard and not just Harrison Ford. Ford was arguably the weak spot, that doesn't make him bad just not as good as every other outstanding element. The direction is great, Villeneuve is killing it but it didn't feel like a one of his movies, it felt like a Blade Runner movie. For me his name is becoming a reason to watch a film so to forget that he did it after watching was not quite disappointing but odd. Shows his versatility. 

Must see for any Blade Runner fans, any Sci-fi fans, any Roger Deakins fans any fans of cinema really. Some will like more than others, and more than I did. 7.5/10 Will be Oscar nominated.

CINEMATES - A

Boss Baby (2017)

So after a bit of a cock up at the cinema, I ended up seeing a showing of Boss Baby. You know what, hilarious. I love Alec Baldwin, fancied him in Beetlejuice and adored him in 30 Rock, was intrigued on that alone. Did not realise how many other well known actors were involved in this film either. So little Timothy Templeton has a great life with him and his parents, unfortunately Tim's mum, played by Lisa Kudrow, is pregnant. Baby Baldwin shows up in a taxi in a suit and starts running a muck.  Tim's mum and his dad, played by Jimmy Kimmel, are oblivious and try to make them bond as brothers. Soon Tim unravels that Boss Baby comes from a huge corporation of babies, Baby Corp, of babies with adult minds that make business. And that the reason Boss Baby is here is due to the world finding puppies cuter than babies and they need to get that love back to be top dog, figuratively. Cute imaginative concept with equally silly execution.

I gotta talk about the animation, there's no way I can't. I loved it, I loved the animation. Its not just the standard Dreamworks that you see in the trailers, though that it the main animation. Its a story told by a child so his imagination runs wild and you can see that. Some really gorgeous homages from some classic cinema styles. They were quite creative with how they showed some scenes. Some plot points were pushed forward with a once upon a time type trope with a character literally sitting you down and telling you the back story, but fine, it's a kids film. My favourite parts were probably those little tidbits and they came at a good pace, visually fantastic, definitely brought the average imagery of the film up. Hans Zimmer has a chuck at the music so there that is. Not much more to say about that, he's quality at what he does and is always whats needed for which ever film he does. Follows along with the more creative visuals with theatrical sound to parallel.

The film was jokes though. Kids jokes yes and adult jokes also, but I mean it has Alec Baldwin, he has a great voice, a voice that juxtaposed with a baby is ridiculous. And that's something I think they did well. Had a funny balance between grown up and baby, yes some jokes in that vein were unoriginal but you know why? Because all babies behave the same, that's why. There's only a finite amount of things that babies do. Boss Baby having tiny power naps was adorable, him throwing money at Tim to buy him sushi as a pretentious little businessman was great in contrast. There were a few surprise jokes for me, ever have a joke just catch you by surprise and you're a little bit shocked that you are actually laughing out loud? Well that happened a few times in this film. Just a few jokes that were breezed over so casually that caught me off guard. Definitely a kids film, a lot of silly jokes, but most of them worked. I'd say Boss Baby is the funniest character, Tim Templeton isn't meant to be as funny, he's meant to be more of a genuine little boy. Boss Baby's little entourage wasn't particularly memorable but did they did fine to tag along in a couple scenes. The villain played by Steve Buscemi wasn't that funny either. Debatably the funniest character was actually Tim's wizard alarm clock, played by James McGrath doing a wonderful Gandalf impression. No doubt kids will be giggling a cartoon baby bum cheek and lets be honest adults probably will too.

The constant message throughout is that love can be shared. It's not one over another it's huge worldwide, parental love for everyone equally. It's great for a young child trying to accept a new addition to the family, no one is replaced people are just added to the love pie chart. Templeton learns, after a while that there's no need for competition. He struggled with the idea of neglect and being 'fired from your own family', neither of which is true of course. Boss Baby also deals with this competition at work and the villain also has this same theme of not being the favourite.

6/10 Funny but not thaaat memorable adaptation of a successful children's picture book. Good cast, great animation and sweet message. Kids will enjoy it but not every joke will get a laugh from the adults.