Blade Runner

Undoubtedly an impressive achievement in set design and visuals, Blade Runner otherwise possesses few elements designed to effectively capture (and subsequently hold) the viewer’s interest over the course of its bloated 117-minute running time. The threadbare storyline, which follows Harrison Ford’s futuristic bounty hunter as he attempts to track down four runaway humanoid robots, has been augmented with characters that are scarcely developed beyond their most superficial attributes, and it becomes exceedingly difficult to care about any of their exploits once the novelty of the film’s look wears off (which doesn’t take long at all, admittedly). Scott, working with cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth and production designer Lawrence G. Paull, effectively paints an evocative portrait of a smoky, downright seedy world, yet there does reach a point at which the relentlessly grimy atmosphere becomes overwhelming and oppressive. The synth-heavy score by Vangelis generally exacerbates the film’s many problems, while the sluggish pace succeeds only in keeping the viewer at arm’s length (the protracted finale is, to put it mildly, awfully anti-climactic). That Blade Runner is now considered a landmark achievement within the science fiction genre is nothing short of baffling, with the frustratingly ambiguous conclusion only cementing the film’s status as a hopelessly overrated piece of work.

** out of ****