Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Magnificent. It is an epic three hour artistic feast. It is a visually stunning movie, surely to win the long overdue master Roger Deakins an Oscar. The colors! The futuristic production design that borrows from and yet somehow also modernizes the original. The epicness of each frame is enough to take your breath away. If you can't tell, I loved the look of the movie.

But of course, the strength and beauty of Blade Runner (perhaps of science fiction generally) is its ability to ask the tough questions. What does it mean to be human? In my opinion, this movie is a very natural sequel to the original. It builds off the established themes and pushes the boundary to the next logical steps. The character, less obviously but very effectively, advances this question of humanity. She is a computer program, pure software. She obeys orders. She is made to order. But does her capacity to love make her human? Does the capacity to love make a replicant more human? Does the ability to reproduce make you human? Is there a more abstract idea of a soul that makes us human? It asks the tough philosophical questions.

Denis Villeneuve has proven himself a phenomenal director of science fiction following Arrival. And in the same style, he has a way with reveals that shocks the audience. I won't give that bit away, but the reveal allows the viewer to discover another theme, and that is insignificance. We may find ourselves very important, but is it possible that our stories are insignificant in the arc of history? It's this willingness to tackle grandiose ideas that makes this sweeping movie a pure epic.

Suicide Squad (2016)

Suicide Squad was pretty terrible, not as bad as everyone said, but by no means good. There is definitely a style, but it's a strange one. The opening, a montage of origin stories, looks cheap with the punk video game writing on the screen. Viola Davis is too good for this. Margot Robbie is even too good for this. She does what she can with the little she is given. And Jared Leto is a maniacal freak. He scared the heck out of me. Despite a more unique idea, the execution of the film is poor. The plot is borderline boring. These superhero, or super villain, movies just aren't exciting anymore.