Critics and Audiences: The Chasm Between Them Part II

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It had been 35 years since Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Upon its release, it underwhelmed at the box-office and divided critics but in the three decades that have passed, it has become a staple of the sci-fi genre and heralded as one of the best films of all time. French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, responsible for hits such as Sicario and Arrival, was chosen to the expanding fictional universe with Blade Runner 2049 and faced the pressure of delivering not just a piece of entertainment, but a cinematic experience that could match the impact of it predecessor.

 The critical reception was overwhelmingly positive and nearing upon universal acclaim. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film a maximum 5/5 stars, summarising his review of the film with "a gigantic spectacle of pure hallucinatory craziness". Meanwhile, the UK's leading film magazine Empire also awarded it 5 stars, "As bold as the original Blade Runner and even more beautiful (especially if you see it in IMAX). Visually immaculate, swirling with themes as heart-rending as they are mind-twisting, 2049 is, without a doubt, a good year. And one of 2017's best."

Director Denis Villeneuve told Den of Geek! that he was delighted by the reaction, "I felt I was blessed by the gods of cinema! I felt a massive relief. Not for my own ego - seriously - more that the whole enterprise, people understood the intentions. That they felt it was respectful of the first movie, that I deeply loved."

Audiences seemingly grasped the director's intentions, too, and the film received an "A-" grade on CinemaScore and an 81% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes to accompany its 87% "Certified Fresh" given by critics.


Early reports tracked the film to debut at the U.S box office between $45 million and $50 million. However, as the numbers started to roll in for Thursday night previews, that estimate fell to $31.5 million and the film eventually opened domestically with the latter total and fell short of predicted expectations.

Whilst Villeneuve appreciated the fact that his vision was understood, he himself could not fully understand why the film failed to deliver the big bucks at the box-office. The emerging auteur said in an interview with Yahoo! that was later re-published on Slash Film:

I'm still digesting it. It had the best [reviews] of my life. I never had a movie welcomed like that. At the same time, the box office in the United States was a disappointment, that's the truth, because those movies are expensive. It will still make tons of money but not enough. The thing I think is that, it was maybe because people were not familiar enough with the universe. And the fact the movie's long. I don't know, it's still a mystery to me.

 Villeneuve's hypothesising about the film's commercial failure stand to reason; the film came in at a whopping 163 minute run time (which subsequently reduces how many showings can be screened each day), arguably a hefty commitment for any film-goer. The director's musings about audiences not being familiar enough with the Blade Runner universe is also viable, and Scott Mendelson for Forbes also agrees, "Had Blade Runner been a more popular property, that might have done the trick. But we're talking about an R-rated cult movie that bombed back in 1982 and has been mostly kept alive by its influence on future filmmakers and a deep fandom amongst critics and movie nerds. And if you want to make another one, great, but don't spend $150 million on an R-rated, 2.5-hour, relatively action-light tone poem, one which requires you to have seen the first Blade Runner and then act shocked when general moviegoers don't feel like shelling out babysitter money to see it in theatres."

Regardless of these potential reasons that dissuaded audiences from watching the film, the critics themselves and their glowing response to the feature also couldn't entice enough people to buy a ticket. The flurry of five-star reviews and declarations of the film's masterpiece status did not blind a mass audience who decidedly affirmed that the Blade Runner property was not one that ignited their interest and devotion - much like the original in 1982. Do critics and film reviewers not have the power over an audience that we perceive them to hold? Do their words and critique not resonate or influence like they should anymore? The success of Bright and the commercial failure of Blade Runner 2049 that this post and the one previous details proves to us that the answer to those questions are becoming increasingly more complex and difficult to answer.

My next blog post will endeavour to gain the perspective of one voice amongst the hundreds and thousands of critics out there. I got in contact with IndieWire's Senior Film Critic, David Ehrlich, and interviewed him to gauge his response to this current and undeniable disparity that has formed between critics and audiences.

Bibliography

Bradshaw, P (2017). Blade Runner 2049 review - a gigantic spectacle of pure hallucinatory craziness. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/29/blade-runner-2049-review-ryan-gosling-harrison-ford-denis-villeneuve [01.02.2018]

Jolin, D (2017). Blade Runner 2049 Review. [online] Available at: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/blade-runner-2049/review/ [01.02.2018]

Lambie, R. and Villeneuve, D. (2018) Denis Villeneuve interview: Blade Runner 2049, marketing and design. [02.02.2018]

 (2017) Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - Rotten Tomatoes. [online] Available at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blade_runner_2049/ [01.02.2018]

McNary, D (2017). Box Office: 'Blade Runner 2049' Fades to $31.5 Million Opening Weekend. [online] Available at: http://variety.com/2017/film/news/box-office-blade-runner-2049-opening-weekend-1202583660/ [01.02.2018]

Bui, H-T (2017). Why 'Blade Runner 2049' Failed at the Box Office, According to Director Denis Villeneuve. [online] Available at: http://www.slashfilm.com/blade-runner-2049-failed/ [01.02.2018]

Mendelson, S (2017). Box Office: Why 'Jumanji' Is A Hit But 'Blade Runner 2049' Was A Flop. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/12/28/box-office-why-jumanji-is-a-hit-but-blade-runner-2049-was-a-flop/#bc45dca6a04c [02.02.2018]

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