Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Genre: Sci-fi
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto, Wood Harris
Duration: 163 minutes
Class: TBA
KRS Releasing Ltd

Thirty-five years after Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner comes its sequel, which has already been acclaimed as better than the original by some critics. Others are calling it one of the greatest sequels of all time.

After La La Land, Ryan Gosling takes on the role of blade runner in the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 film.

Directed this time by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival) the film once again stars Harrison Ford who resumes his role as specialist plainclothes police officer Rick Deckard from the original film.

Human-like robots called Replicants are still hunted by police officers called ‘blade runners’ in a dystopian Los Angeles.

Ryan Gosling plays Officer K, a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department. He  unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Deckard,  who has been missing for 30 years.

The film has received exceptional reviews.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guar­dian called it “a gigantic spectacle of pure hallucinatory craziness”, while Michael O’Sullivan of The Washington Post wrote: “The special effects are impeccable and include sequences that blur the line, evocatively, between what's real and unreal.”

Praise went also to Gosling but especially to Ford. Dan Jolin of Empire magazine said Gosling is “perfectly cast as K”. As regards Ford, he wrote: “If you think Ford is on easy territory as yet another timeworn version of a classic cha­racter he could play in his sleep, think again. This is possibly the best performance of his career.”

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine complimented the main trio of protagonists: “Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford and director Denis Villeneuve turn this follow-up into a bold, ‘visual feast’ that more than lives up to the original.”

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes concurs: “Visually stun­ning and narratively satisfying, Blade Runner 2049 deepens and expands its predecessor’s story while standing as an impressive film-making achievement in its own right.”

The film is opening in Malta on Thursday and in the US on Friday.

Ratings
IMDB: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Empire: 5 stars

Home Again (2017)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Lake Bell, Candice Bergen, Lola Flanery, Reid Scott
Duration: 97 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

Reese Whiterspoon returns with another romantic comedy, the genre that made her famous.

She plays Alice Kinney, who has recently separated from her husband and decides to start over by moving back to Los Angeles with her two daughters. While celebrating her 40th birthday, Alice meets Harry (Pico Alexander), George (Jon Rudnitsky) and Teddy (Nat Wolff), three young film-makers who need a place to live.

Reese Witherspoon falls in and out of love in Home Again.

Complications soon arise when she agrees to let the men stay in her guesthouse temporarily.

As Alice develops a budding romance with Harry, her newfound happiness comes crashing down when her ex shows up with a suitcase in his hand.

The film was panned by critics.

Wendy Ide of The Guardian described the film as “both unapologetically contrived and rather satisfying, if unchallenging”.

Michael Ordona of Common Sense Media wrote: “This is one of those brightly-lit Hollywood romcoms with commercial-style acting and precious little insight into human behaviour. It’s built on thin contrivances and thinner characters.”

Owen Gleiberman of Variety was equally unimpressed: “It seems more than a trifle obnoxious to tell a story that unfolds in a bubble of Hollywood privilege and to present it as if it were something that everyone could relate to.”

The $12 million budget production did not fare well at the box office. Since its release in the US on September 8, it grossed $25 million in box office sales.

Ratings
IMDB: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 30%
Empire: N/A

Flatliners (2017)
Genre: Horror
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, Kiefer Sutherland
Duration: 121 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

The sci-fi psychological horror film by Danish director Niels Arden Oplev is a remake of a 1990 film of the same name.

Five medical students embark on a daring and dangerous experi­ment to gain insight into the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life.

Nina Dobrev engages in some paranormal activity in Flatliners.

The bold adventure begins when they trigger near-death experiences by stopping their hearts for short periods of time. As their trials become more perilous, each must confront the sins from their past while facing the paranormal consequences of journeying to the other side.

The film received dismal re­views, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a rating of just three per cent.

The critics’ consensus reads: “Flatliners falls flat as a horror movie and fails to improve upon its source material, rendering this reboot dead on arrival.”

Chris Agar of Screen Rant wrote: “Flatliners is an unmemor­able redux hampered by poor writing and a general lack of thrills that fails to capture the attention of its audience.”

The $19 million budget film, released last Friday, so far made  $9 million in ticket sales worldwide.

Ratings
IMDB: 5.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 3%
Empire: 2 stars