In directing Blade Runner 2049, Denny Villeneuve is trapped somewhere between reboot, sequel and superhero origin story. Whilst grasping for the original ambiguity of the Art House classic, the neo-noir wheels spin and we advance nowhere. And that is seemingly by a design absent of creativity.

The originality bursts by Villeneuve are the film’s peaks especially as Ana (Juri) triggers our sincere compassion. And we get it, the loose interpretation of the story dallies in the blurred lines of human definition, specifically sexuality. And that is great. Then two of the main female characters are named Joi (de Armas), K’s (Gosling) holographic girlfriend and Luv (Hoeks), the A+ henchwoman of the Wallace Cooperation, and we sigh. Then we have Doc Badger (Abdi), wonderfully timed and perfectly portrayed, balancing the overacting divinity of Wallace (Leto). It’s as if the entire picture cancels itself out.

The cinematography conveys the beautiful ugliness of the time and, to that, there’s no dispute. K draws sympathy in his search but seems emotionally contained for no reason. Deckard (Ford) surprisingly accentuates the film, but is tardy. Blade Runner’s persistent back and forth results in 2.999 napkins out of 5 as some stories are best left in the future.