Review: "Blade Runner 2049" is a Good Thinking Man's Sci-Fi Epic

Scene from Blade Runner 2049

The impact of 1982's Blade Runner is hard to ignore on modern sci-fi. Despite being a box office disappointment at the time, the film set a precedent for how cinema created neo-noir and explored the idea of artificial intelligence. In an era dominated by reboot culture, it only makes sense that they would try to remake the film. Even with current high concept auteur Denis Villeneuve it seems like a thankless job, and one that has an incredible legacy to live up to Blade Runner 2049 is a film that succeeds not by rehashing what we know, but expanding upon the ideology of this universe, set 30 years after the Ridley Scott film. The film may lack an immediacy that the original has, but its status as an intellectual sci-fi epic is an incredible feat unto itself. Even if the film isn't the greatest sci-fi film of the year, it's still evidence of what cinema could achieve if it's bold enough to go there.

Composing Greatness: #19. John Williams - "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984)

Scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Composing Greatness: #15. John Williams - "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981)

Scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.