Final Warning: Do not read this post or enter the comments section below if you have not already seen Blade Runner 2049.
After months and months of speculation, Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 is finally in theaters, and so far the response from critics has been unexpectedly strong: as of this writing, the film's sitting at an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, a percentage some of us would've found absolutely unthinkable back when the project was originally announced. Against all odds, Denis Villeneuve delivered a Blade Runner sequel that has made both critics and fans happy.
From where I'm standing, Blade Runner 2049 is a miracle movie, a film that could've gone wrong in so many different ways and didn't. As an added bonus, it's left us with roughly a bajillion interesting things to talk about: the way the Blade Runner mythology's been expanded, the huge role that women play in the film (a delightful surprise they largely kept out of the trailers), the fact that Jared Leto kinda crushes is as Niander Wallace, Roger Deakins' incredible cinematography, the film's hard sci-fi details (the "baseline test" scenes are particularly awesome), the twistiness of the plot (which has you thinking one thing and then another before knocking your legs out from under you), that jaw-dropping third act "cameo"...I could go on and on.
I suspect we'll be dissecting (and debating) this film for a long, long time, and we've gotta start somewhere. So here it is: a spoiler-friendly space for all of us. Hit the comments section below and let us know what you thought of Villeneuve's film - what you loved, what you liked, and what you didn't like. Our only mandate: be respectful of one another, even if you vehemently disagree. Anything else is open for discussion.