Ready for some sacrilege? I did not care for the original Blade Runner. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. Blade Runner 2049 wasn't a movie I was particularly excited for. The near three hour run time was my biggest concern, but surprisingly Blade Runner 2049 doesn't feel like a "long" movie. Aside from a few bits of bad CGI (considering the shear amount of CGI in this film, I can forgive 5 seconds of terrible snow before they move into a better snow animation) and a terrible performance from Jared Leto, Blade Runner 2049 is amazing. The story has a simple main story that develops on so many levels and had me fully engaged. Most of the CGI is great and the score that isn't manipulative, but complementary. The highlight for me, is easily the sets. I was actually more looking forward to seeing what the next location looked like than whatever Ryan Gosling was doing next. Every setting was a beautiful melding of future-tech with simple design elements that reminded me of ancient Rome (Obviously I don't know anything about interior design or architecture). I love the color pallet (it was the soul reason I saw Hotel Artemis) and all of the acting was top notch. There were definitely some things they could have simplified and a couple of sequences were too long, but it's great overall. You don't need to have seen the original Blade Runner (it certainly helps and you'll be missing a few details without it, but it's not mandatory to understand and enjoy it). There is one glaring issue with Blade Runner 2049 that I can't overlook. Without spoiling anything, the last quarter of the movie has a sequence that I had assumed set up the final act, but instead, I guess, is either a red herring because they hate us or they were establishing a sequel just to save time when they get around to it. I have no idea why it's there. Blade Runner 2049 didn't live up to financial expectations and it's been over a year with no concrete news so chances for a sequel don't look great, so I may never know.