Blade Runner 2049 is downright impressive just for the simple fact that it works. I believe the one thing that Villeneuve has proven with 2049 is that the sky is the limit for him, he is flat out an incredibly talented director. He did what I believed to be impossible, he made a sequel to fucking Blade Runner 30 years later that stands completely on its own two feet. And honestly, I'll go as far as to say that 2049 is a better made film, but not "better" then Blade Runner. From a technical and narrative standpoint, 2049 clicks along like a well oiled machine. Deakins cinematography is sharp and gorgeous and visual stunning, the fact it took him this long to get an Oscar win is feels about as criminal as when Martin Scorsese got his first Oscar win for The Departed (though at least you can say this is one of Deakins best works). Narratively the film gets you hooked in from the get go. It's exciting and engaging, at times thought provoking and compelling, and for being 2hr 30min it doesn't feel like a slog. 2049 also does a really good job continuing to build where the original left off. But despite all this I just still like the first one more, and that just comes down to one simple thing; cult statues. You know what 2049 doesn't have? a career defining performance from Rutger Hauer. There's no improvised "tears in the rain" speech to be seen, the very thing that would come to be one of the most iconic moments from that film. This might sound downright silly to say, but honestly? 2049 is too well made to ever compete with the original. It's the rough quality of the original and the "it just somehow works" vibe that makes it so remarkable and unforgettable for me. It took at least three cuts of the film (and I'm sure there are more then that) before the film ever got to the place it needed to be, but once it got there it was something to behold. For '82 those visuals where down right mind blowing, and even today they still hold there own. For one film Rutger Hauer becomes the fucking G.O.A.T. and steals the damn show from everyone else involved. 2049, for as well made as it is, doesn't have the qualities that made the original what it is. A damn well made film, but just doesn't have the same sort of magic the original has.