SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 139 - Blade Runner 2049

[moreorless87]

I'm surprised to see this getting panned pretty hard ITT. I thought I was going to be the only one and everyone would be calling me an asshole. I kinda feel a little bad for the film now.

I'll mention my positives - I really liked Hoeks as Joi. She caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting her to develop the way she did, but she creeps up and becomes a really boss villain. She was definitely the highlight of the movie.

Anyone love the end credits music? tbh I thought it was better than anything in original BR. It was pretty amazing in the cinema with the volume cranked up

Again I think a bit issue is really the very high esteem a lot of people hold the original in, if you compare BR 2049 to say Nolan sci fi blockbusters like Inception I think it fairs very well indeed.

Soundtrack wise I admit one reason I wasn't so fond of it in places is that the bass was so deep that it was actually causing the screen to have ripples on it at my local cinema.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Weighing if an expsession sounds silly coming from you is harder.

@Tufts butchers colloquialisms all the time.

 

[MusterX]

I wonder if Luv's psychopathic tendencies are also comments on the "programming vs nurture" debate thing-y.

Luv kills viciously. But it's not because she's some cold ninja-killing program. It seems more about wanting the affection of Wallander. She has just a strong desire to become "human" as K does -- only for her, it means gaining the approval of her father-figure. She even tells K when they first meet, "It is invigorating being asked personal questions. Makes one feel... desired."

She's very much like an abused child. The kind who becomes sadistic yet also obsessed about living in the shadow of their progenitors.

Its an interesting point to be sure. "Programming" is a tricky word when it comes to A.I. The Replicants were programmed in some sense but mostly they are self learning, meaning each one of them is an individual with their own experiences. Luv does seem to want to please Wallace but at the same time she also seems to very much want to change the way of things, a paradigm change. She tells Joshi something like, "you fear the child because it will change everything and your first response is to kill it?!"

How much of that is because Wallace wants it and how much is her own desire is difficult to surmise. She definitely loves the attention from Wallace and also fears him. When Wallace stabs the Replicant Luv seems fearful, and when she fights "K" she tells him, "I'm the best one", which is pretty much an echo of Wallace calling her an angel. The problem is that Luv is not the only one he calls an angel. In the shorts I posted he calls another Replicant an angel.

ie: Wallander's behaviour and mindset is more machine-like than any of the replicants he creates.

It seems that way yes but he doesn't seem motivated by money. He feels more like a cult-leader who wants to subjugate not just the Earth, but the entire universe in his name. Batty and Pris were Tyrell's Nexus 6 model, Wallace was producing Nexus 8, but there is no mention of the Nexus 7 in the shorts that Villeneuve commissioned. Where Wallace wants to use Replicants like a tool, like a saw, Tyrell might have wanted much more for his creation. Tyrell does tell Batty that he tried to extend their lifespan.

 

[MusterX]

The first movie was all about discovering that Replicants have humanity. You can't really redo that discovery in the sequel. You have to move it into new territory. I thought Deny did that expertly while also staying anchored enough the established story for it to feel like a continuation.

Villeneuve isn't "redoing" the discovery of Replicants humanity in the sequel, he's building on it. The first thing humans would want is to gain their freedom, and their independence. Villeneuve pursues that idea with the Black Out of 2022 and the secret Replicant rebel force that is trying to break away with their chosen one, the girl. I didn't feel that Denis was riding the coat tails of the first movie, I felt he was trying to build on those ideas.

 

[europe1]

We don't really see K breaking out of his role in the LAPD with much intensity and theres not really that much self examination in his relationship with Joi, we get the scene of him viewing the big advert at the end seemingly acknowledging her nature but it really needed more than that IMHO.

I guess it's mean to amalgamate with the revelation that he's not "the chosen one." First he learns that his birth isn't special. Shortly afterwards he learns that the love he held for Joi isn't special either. All those experiences are believable and rousing to the soul even if they aren't true.

Blade Runner were far more interesting and the idea that they'd lived fuller lives than most humans is a pretty profound way to make a statement, even if in 2017 it'd be a bumpy road saying slaves can find fulfillment in their lot.

I would say that it's more that the Replicants find fulfilment in "breaking away from their lot", rather than finding "fulfilment in their lot". I mean, they're tortured souls who define themselves in rebellion against slavery. And that's a theme that wouldn't be bumpy in 2017.

I think the movie did a hell of a job creating an atmosphere for the reality being portrayed. Especially, in the scenes that took place outdoors. @Cubo de Sangre listens to some really interesting discordant "music" that makes my teeth ache at times. In this movie though, I found myself truly digging and appreciating the discordant soundtrack that accompanied most of the exterior shots. It really did a good job of creating that sense of disconnection, isolation, and chaos that was life existence in the movie.

I also wondered if there are movies out there that portray life in the future as better than it is now

Star Trek?

But I guess it's the whole idea that "the essence of drama is conflict." If the future is a Utopia, then there isn't much stuff to make movies about.

I want this dress!

Qipaos needs to come into style. Especially with China conquering the world.

What's "the Blackout"? Is the bald creep at the desk a human or a replicant (and, if the latter, old or new gen?)? If he's a replicant, why's he talking about his mom and baby pictures? Does he think he's a human like Sean Young? Explain your fucking movies, people.

Eh, do we really need a monologue about if random desk-clerk is a Replicant or not? It doesn't add anything either way. Hell, I'd even say the ambiguity of it says something about the society the film that place in. You don't know if the people you're talking to are "real" or not.

Out of curiosity, what was so gorgeous about it? Other than the shot of Luv walking to Wallace's office after the Olmos scene, it seemed pretty pedestrian to me.

Pedestrian? C'mon bruh. Not liking the visuals is one thing but they aren't pedestrian. Very single colour-dominated minimalism (uhh... I have no words for describing visuals). I wouldn't call it GOAT. But it is pretty. And I would call it gorgeous.

So it's not Gos? It's memory girl and she put one of her own memories in him. Why? To what end? Like some street graffiti artist tagging her shit? This movie is so fucking dumb.

The reasons she's the best memory-maker around is because she injects her own most precious memories into her work. Otherwise she'd be another 3rd-rate hack who doesn't get to live in a bubble. John Travolta lived in a bubble. That's why you should respect people who live in bubbles, Bullitt.

and I got excited when I saw Edward James Olmos, not Harrison Ford.

Olmos has that kind of accusing stare that makes one feel guilty about not having watched more Miami Vice.

Seems pretty clearly to be the latter, and if they were going for something deeper, they failed miserably.

I think it's meant to tie into the whole "K, you ain't special (because of your love for fake holo-girl), but contrary to what you think, that isn't what makes you not-human, it what makes you human" vibe the movie is gunning for.

Blade Runner 2049 doesn't need a lot of, or very stiff, competition to come out on the losing end. Logan, Dunkirk, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Fate of the Furious, they're all better..

This sentence reads like one of those Hitler speeches that begins with perfectly valid arguments like "The Versailles treaty was wrong" but then ends in eye-popping wrongness like "we must exterminate all Jews".

I'll mention my positives - I really liked Hoeks as Joi. She caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting her to develop the way she did, but she creeps up and becomes a really boss villain. She was definitely the highlight of the movie.

Yup. She was a real force-of-presence (and strangely sexy too). Worthy air to the Rutger Hauer mantle. I guess Dutch people are just naturally good at playing enslaved and emotionally-repressed robots, or something.

Weyland was petty for wanting immortality from his creators (who had coded aging into his DNA) while Batty was not? I smell a double standard here.
[analyzed}

Well Batty didn't want immortality -- he wanted more years (which is a valid desire considering the time-limit on his creation).

Soundtrack wise I admit one reason I wasn't so fond of it in places is that the bass was so deep that it was actually causing the screen to have ripples on it at my local cinema.

For some reason I find that profoundly funny<45>

 

[Yotsuya]

Well Batty didn't want immortality -- he wanted more years (which is a valid desire considering the time-limit on his creation).

Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods is pretty much the biggest heroic deed known to man, so I would not call it petty, if someone tries to follow that act. Sure Wayland fell short and was a douche. Both David and Batty are/were psychopathic dicks too. Scott presents a spiral of abuse in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, which seems like a fair treatment.

 

[moreorless87]

For some reason I find that profoundly funny<45>

The infamous "Zimmerman ripple" from not having the screens pulled tightly enough and the speakers close behind.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

I loved the opening aerial shot of farmland.

The first shot of a character we see is K flying his car, his face is blurred out, and only his hand is in focus, he's an action-driven character, acts first, thinks second, if at all.

I know it's in an alternate reality from ours but it's still supposed to be like earth in the year 2049. There's still no way we'll have flying cars by 2049, or probably ever. This isn't a knock on Blade Runner 2049, since flying cars were in the original so his hands were tied. I was pleased to see that apart from the flying cars there wasn't many seemingly unrealistic advancements in society.

Bautista runs a protein farm... I guess that means soybeans. I wonder if they changed it to protein so he didn't look like a "SJW"? Bautista and the other replicants were engineered to be soldiers, you'd think they'd make strong ones to catch them, not Ryan Gosling sized-ones, but I'm just being picky, Harrison Ford wasn't that big either. They probably should've had partners in both Bladerunners too.

I also wonder if Phillip K. Dick and Ridley Scott were influenced by Logan's Run? Probably, never thought about it before.

The dead body of his mother in the ground decomposed and the minerals and nutrients her corpse produced resulted in a flower, growing in the barren wasteland. K see's the flower and picks it. All nice and fitting (except the rainwater carries minerals and nutrients (but that's another story)… but then he decides to scan the ground, and he just happens to have a ground-penetrating flying radar on his car. He finds the box and the car immediately chimes in "I'll send a dig team"... Apparently the cops have money to send dig teams everywhere, somehow, the economy looks to be in rough shape so not sure how. Also Buatista was wanted for being older than 7, not for murder so this is all a little too convenient.

And now they're doing an autopsy on a replicant corpse that was killed by a replicant... They're basically disposable slaves without rights, why waste the manpower and resources to investigate? Well, because it drives the story forward. But it's lazy writing. This is where the story starts to lose steam, already.

The cityscape visuals are mostly ruined by the smog, but why wouldn't it be, that's where we're headed. The viewers frustrations in not being able to fully enjoy the scenery echo's the characters feelings. It's also reminiscent of all the steam and smoke used in the first Bladerunner. Even in the hallway of K's building there's people smoking... the hallways of his building and the slums were the only crowded places in the movie, bar the one marketplace. Herding the masses into coops, while the rich live in lavish, extravagant, ridiculously over-sized buildings... An accurate depiction of our future, I agree.

That interlink thing was annoying and confusing the first time around, but it's explained later.

I found it interesting that Joi, K's wife/slave/hologram had a Russian accent, the country famous for mail order brides, a nice touch to help remind the viewer that the idea isn't as far-fetched as it may at first seem. I know in Japan and China they're producing ridiculously expensive sex dolls already, so it'll happen one day.



I'm going to try not to think about the science behind emulators, it's no crazier than a matter transporter in Star Trek though. I liked when Joi went out into the rain though, a nice simple scene to remind us of the simple joys of being alive, that we take for granted. It was funny when she froze up, as they were kissing and he got an incoming call. A sublte but effective reminder .

A pregnant replicant?

"To be born is to have a soul", too religious of a take for me. In the original the interview between Decker and Rachel shows that humans and replicants aren't very different. If memories could be implanted than there's no way to know for sure. That statement from the Lieutenant seems out of place in the movie, to me.

I wonder if those who own the rights to Atari paid for that ad? If it was just a statement about commercialization, which will only increase in the future?

The Tyrell corporation building, and Jared Leto's character are meant to illustrate the power, wealth, and ego of the Tyrell corporation. But the design is so opulent and inefficient that it's unrealistic. It seems like the design is all based on being visually appealing to the viewer, with not thoughts of the practicality of running a massive corporation from it. And Niander himself.. ugh. His actions and dialogue, coupled with the design of his building, just takes me out of the story. Leto seems way too crazy and weird to be so successful. And he supposedly got his power from some great farming idea that saved the world... he definitely doesn't seem like the type to concern himself with that.


So K is a replicant, and he can own his own holographic replicant that he can turn into a real replicant. But he can't have sex with it, unless a real women morphs with it? This is confusing. replicants owning replicants. Who's paying to build replicants and then just free them into the world to live, work and buy/rent property. Or do they just live in a police paid apartment. If the police force is buying them, then why not just shut them off at night or store them somewhere, since they're slaves. And how come Niander has a switch on his neck? Is he a replicant too? Androids owning and running a corporation that sells android slaves... So there's classes of replicants with different laws that apply to them or what?

I love those revving engine sounds, coupled with waves of oscillating bass and synths. I know many people hate this new style of soundtrack, but I like it, a mix of noise and more conventional style soundtrack music can work great. This movie could've used more conventional soundtrack music. It was so noticeable when they finally played the original score towards the end that it felt weird.

Since K is a real human it's a little too convenient that he only has one childhood memory, and it's the one that holds the secret to unlocking everything.

The scene where the hookers are introduced really captured the feel of the original. But At this point of the movie I dozed off, and awoke to Elvis and Harrison Ford... rewind. It was late and I was exhausted from a long day at work, but had the movie been more entertaining I wouldn't have dozed off.

My "copy" had subtitles, but they didn't subtitle the talking computers, weird.

K has a huge room with nothing but a big police computer in it... who paid for that? Seems like a big investment for something that only lives 7 years... He's scanning DNA record sheets looking for similarities/irregularities... What's the computer for if he has to do that manually? Also he's a computer, that's using a computer.

So earlier K investigated the ground after finding a flower, but now he's not interested in investigating the people shooting at him... or maybe speeding up or gaining altitude.

Um, air strike from Niander's assistant … wait, what? I know it's the future in a slightly different reality, but how is a corporation allowed to do this? Even Blackwater couldn't get away with that in Iraq. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this. Leto's character is like something from the Marvel Universe, he just sits in a dark room, ranting all day and murdering new replicants. And somehow he's running this mega-corporation that has it's own military (and gets away with bullying and killing police Lieutenants) Seems legit.
So he finds the toy to prove that he's a real boy. This is supposed to be a big dramatic moment but it's ruined by the android company's drone strikes..

We all forget most of our childhood as we age, eventually almost all of it. But c'mon. He's in his 30's and can only remember one thing. He thought they were fake so he made extra effort to forget them, I get that, but how did he just one day forget that he's real. He must've had tons of childhood memories when he was a young-teen. This is M. Night Shamylan level here.

He goes to see the dream-maker. She has a special talent for making dreams since she was isolated and had to use her imagination. Makes sense. They illustrate this by showing her conjuring up an memory of a girl blowing out the candles on her birthday cake... what a visionary... ha. Who remembers that? The gifts, or the location, or people are more memorable than blowing out the candles. Her's did include some people at least.

How she's able to create detailed memories by twisting two knobs is anybodies guess. Then again Atari is the top digital company in this universe so I guess the two-button design is advanced.

If I ever rewatch this, I'll do it on mute with my stereo on. Apart from the visuals, the movie is surprisingly bad.

So now we find out what the baseline tests are all about. It's basically just a fancy lie-detector/polygraph. The machine does serve the dual purpose of agitating the viewer, which helps us to relate to K in this instance. And he's about to be killed for being off his baseline, so the timing for to empathize with K is perfect. Wait, WTF? They're going to kill him for being off-base, remind me again why they bought him a house and gave him rights?

This is one of the problems with unnecessary sequels and prequels. The quality of the story gets sacrificed (greatly) to accommodate the rules set by the first movie. It ends up being a series of ideas and events loosely fit together to make a cohesive picture at the end. But there's a lot of holes in this picture. How does someone forget they're real?

So, the LT. freaks on K for being off base and starts to interrogate him to find out why... she should just use one of those mind-reading 3D dream-printing machines that the dream maker used to see K's memory. Easier than interrogation, no? Money is no issue to them in this world. More lazy writing. Throw in some quick fake drama and dramatic music at the last minute and boom, GOAT modern director.

Next Luv kills K's boss, and sends a hit squad with missiles after his dad. Full on Marvel. How does one walk into the police station, kill the Lt, ad walk out un-noticed? Only in Hollywood. Niander is this mastermind god-like genius and he sends his number two to go take out the police chief... hitmen anybody? Of do the cops work for Tyrell Corp so she can kill them at will, like disposable slaves? Who knows?

The Lieutenants computer needs facial recognition to work, but it accepts the voices of others without issues. lol. Just an excuse for Luv to hold up a corpse. This movie is like Transformers for adults. Forget the story or philosophical issues, Just mix in Gosling with beautiful shots, cool colors and some badass scenes and bam, hit movie.

Question: Why should I care for K? He has no hobbies, no passion for anything, keeps a replicant slave to make him feel special, has no emotion, except for anger when he finds out he's real... Only has a few years left to live at best also. I guess they realized this too because they added in some quick quips about PB&J and treasure island to humanize them before the big father son fight. Lol, reminds me of the lazy last minute attempt (by Republicans) to humanize George W. Bush by saying he's a good old boy that likes PB&J sandwiches.

Harrison Ford chose a good place to hide. A monolithic resort, who'd ever go look around there? lol. It gave them an excuse to use the Elvis hologram though. At this point I don't know if it's inclusion is a statement or a cameo. Seriously it took them 90 minutes to humanize a character beyond an android sex scene with a brainwashed slave. Too busy focusing on the visuals.

Luv and her team bring back-up when going to apprehend old man Harrison, but K gets none for Bautista.

Wait, If the hard drives were all erased during the blackout then how do they still have the footage of Deckard interviewing Rachel?

I'm the best one, lmao.

Umm yeah, Great visuals, crap story, okay acting. overall... yawn.

Get Out was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY better than this.

 

[Zer]

Um, air strike from Niander's assistant … wait, what? I know it's the future in a slightly different reality, but how is a corporation allowed to do this? Even Blackwater couldn't get away with that in Iraq. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this. Leto's character is like something from the Marvel Universe, he just sits in a dark room, ranting all day and murdering new replicants. And somehow he's running this mega-corporation that has it's own military (and gets away with bullying and killing police Lieutenants) Seems legit.

I can give them a pass for this. It's very Syndicate. Syndicate is an old school video game series where you play a crew of corporate agents and just ruin shit to advance corporate interests. It's very cyberpunk to have militarized corporations and I love it. I've always wanted a cyberpunk book told from the perspective of the corporation because I love the whole corporate aesthetic and demeanor, especially when you mix in squads of trenchcoat-wearing, cybernetically enhanced deathsquads walking around with miniguns. I've gotta try writing that shit some day

 

[Tufts]

It was either that he was attached to that little girl for the reason you say or because that was THE little girl, I think it was THE little girl. He destroyed those guys over her. Also, when "K" confronts Sapper in the movie, he asks Sapper how he knows or something like that and Sapper said, "Because you've never seen a miracle." So we know Sapper saw the little girl at some point. The Replicants are hiding her because she's the golden child that can reproduce and the police want her because as Joshi said, she's the thing that "breaks the world", and Wallace wants her because he can't figure out how Tyrell made Rachael. As smart as he is, he can't figure out Tyrell's last secret.

I kinda wondered the same about the little girl. The short took place in 2048 though, and that girl was maybe 13ish.... so it can't be her. I do think he witnessed the miracle, ie her birth. Rachel was buried under Sapper's tree, so I just assumed that he witnessed the birth, buried the body and then helped hide the baby. I am guessing the birth and the death happened on 6/10/21, so by the time the short played she would have been 27 and the movie itself, 28, which fits with Dr. Ana Stelline in her bubble.

 

[MusterX]

I kinda wondered the same about the little girl. The short took place in 2048 though, and that girl was maybe 13ish.... so it can't be her. I do think he witnessed the miracle, ie her birth. Rachel was buried under Sapper's tree, so I just assumed that he witnessed the birth, buried the body and then helped hide the baby. I am guessing the birth and the death happened on 6/10/21, so by the time the short played she would have been 27 and the movie itself, 28, which fits with Dr. Ana Stelline in her bubble.

 

[Tufts]

We all forget most of our childhood as we age, eventually almost all of it. But c'mon. He's in his 30's and can only remember one thing. He thought they were fake so he made extra effort to forget them, I get that, but how did he just one day forget that he's real. He must've had tons of childhood memories when he was a young-teen. This is M. Night Shamylan level here.

True. Although if he was the child, then he would have been half replicant / half human (unless you buy into the old Deckard is also a replicant theory, which I don't), so that means we don't really know what this new being could and couldn't do. Based on what we know about the actual child, Dr. Ana Stelline, it seems like they would have a lot of memories and I could imagine that maybe they wouldn't forget any of them, being part replicant. It is an interesting question though. I agree Joe should have had more than one memory, even as a replicant who has been ignoring the memories implanted in him. I guess they are trying to say that the one memory he didn't forget he didn't forget coz it was so intense....coz it actually happened to her. In response to your comment about him forgetting he was real, if he was in fact real, could he have been conditioned into forgetting his childhood by believing fully he was a replicant and they were fake memories?

Argh... this is all making my head hurt. LOL.

 

[Tufts]

Wait, If the hard drives were all erased during the blackout then how do they still have the footage of Deckard interviewing Rachel?

 

[MusterX]

Wait, If the hard drives were all erased during the blackout then how do they still have the footage of Deckard interviewing Rachel?

Tyrell had the most advanced tech in the galaxy. It wouldn't be out of the question to assume he had planned for just such an attack and preserved some of his most important records, like those of Rachael in a lead box somewhere.

 

[MusterX]

I can give them a pass for this. It's very Syndicate. Syndicate is an old school video game series where you play a crew of corporate agents and just ruin shit to advance corporate interests.

Fucking loved that game. Satellite Reign was supposed to be a more modern successor to Syndicate but fell short I've read.

 

[Zer]

Fucking loved that game. Satellite Reign was supposed to be a more modern successor to Syndicate but fell short I've read.

I played Satellite Reign and it has the aesthetic but it's pretty unsatisfying with the combat and generally feels empty

I've gotta play the FPS Syndicate (Even though it's apparently rubbish) because it was written by Richard Morgan, who's like numero one sci-fi writer for me. I've still gotta get round to watching the Altered Carbon Netflix series

 

[MusterX]

I played Satellite Reign and it has the aesthetic but it's pretty unsatisfying with the combat and generally feels empty

I've gotta play the FPS Syndicate (Even though it's apparently rubbish) because it was written by Richard Morgan, who's like numero one sci-fi writer for me. I've still gotta get round to watching the Altered Carbon Netflix series

Yea, me too. Altered Carbon is on my view list I just haven't got around to it yet.

 

[moreorless87]

I can give them a pass for this. It's very Syndicate. Syndicate is an old school video game series where you play a crew of corporate agents and just ruin shit to advance corporate interests. It's very cyberpunk to have militarized corporations and I love it. I've always wanted a cyberpunk book told from the perspective of the corporation because I love the whole corporate aesthetic and demeanor, especially when you mix in squads of trenchcoat-wearing, cybernetically enhanced deathsquads walking around with miniguns. I've gotta try writing that shit some day

That was always my preffered kind of sequel to Blade Runner, rather than doing another version of Deckard or Batty instead look more to characters like Zhora or Gaff who don't get as much focus in the original. A kind of murky world of corperate power told from the inside with replicants used as agents and maybe breaking out of the system.

 

[Tufts]

Yea, me too. Altered Carbon is on my view list I just haven't got around to it yet.

Mine too. We’re working out way through Black Mirror right now.

 

[chickenluver]

I like this movie very much overall, but rather than do a breakdown of why I just want to bring up a few points.

I was curious about the character of Joi the AI housewife and exactly how sentient she, and by extension AI in general was supposed to be. There was one particular line of dialogue I thought was really illuminating into K's thought's regarding her. It was right after he buys some sort of update for her that enables her to go outside I guess, and they almost have a romantic moment in the rain before he gets a call, causing Joi to freeze. She tells him that he makes her so happy, and he almost looks rather put off, replying "you don't have to say that." I think he knows she basically just programming, he doesn't believe her expression of happiness to be genuine. That K prefers her to a human or replicant really goes to show his alienation.

Ultimately she was a side character who was killed off in a rather cavalier manner, which is a shame, and AI is not explored to any real degree, which is fine since the focus is on the replicants. I enjoyed the added element of a human-like character that was farther removed from actual humans than the replicants, and our protagonist having one as a companion. The performance of Ana de Armas was quite good.

I saw that still image of giant Hologram Joi leaning down in front of K and thought it was quite captivating and beautiful, but when that moment actually happened in the film it was a serious gut-punch.

My other point is actually a criticism I've been thinking about since I read something Ridley Scott said about the poor box office results. The exact quote is "It's slow. Long. Too long. I would have taken out half an hour." I initially disagreed with that statement outright on matters of principal alone, but after thinking back on the movie I started to think there were a few superfluous scenes, and that cutting them would have improved the pacing. There are three scenes, all of which are related to each other. I'm fairly certain that the total time of the scenes is less than the 30 minutes Scott suggested removing.

The first is the hologram sex scene. Consummation is generally an important and necessary element of romantic stories, but the movie was not about K and Joi's relationship, and more importantly, I think the very nature of that relationship and what she is makes it unnecessary in this case. I think the rest of their scenes together sufficiently established that was would do whatever she thought was good for him.

Aside from all that, personally I thought it was kind of a slow and awkward scene that was inserted into the middle of the movie in such a way as to interrupt the narrative and make me forget what K was supposed to be doing. That could be okay if it was high quality eroticism, but it was rather tame, more of an exercise in special effects. Don't get me wrong I'm not against weird sex in movies, this one just didn't do anything for me.

With that scene gone the one in which the replicant prostitute is first introduced can easily be cut as well. There is a setup in that scene where the prostitute is shown speaking to a unknown woman, which leads directly into my biggest offender of these three scenes, namely when K meets all the hooded replicants. My issue with this scene and all of those characters is that they exist to demonstrate that replicants have learned they are capable of reproducing and soon the world will know, implying that all out war and chaos are on the horizon. I like the idea of K finding this valuable information and his boss recognizing the implications it has, but releasing the info to the world by the end and the overall execution of it seemed like it was less about anything to do with this movie, and more about setting up a sequel.

The major issue that cutting this last scene would create is that K learns he is not the naturally born replicant from them, so he would have to receive that information elsewhere. Also, doesn't he get recused from Vegas by them somehow? That part wasn't clear to me, plus I watched the film around 6 months ago. Obviously my script doctoring needs a little work.