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Thirty five years. Man, it’s been a long time since the original Blade Runner had been released into the theaters. It was directed by the great Ridley Scott at the top of his game and Harrison Ford as the semi-tough, yet lonely and vulnerable street detective Rick Deckard who hunted down artificial humans called ‘Replicants’ in the run-down futuristic Los Angeles. It should have been a big hit but interestingly it didn’t do well in the theaters, owing to its rather serious somber tone compared to the blockbuster nature of Star Wars at the time.
However, it remained in the minds of film and sci-fi fans for its high-quality effects and multi-layered screenplay. It was re-cut, retooled and remastered a few times, with major elements added or removed. Meanwhile, it had been made into a bit of a franchise with computer games and spin-off novels based on this adaptation of Phillip K Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” One question remained in the minds of fans though: would there ever be a high-quality theatrical sequel one day?
So now we come to Blade Runner 2049, taking place thirty years after the events of the first film. It was often alluded that the world back then had become a bit run down despite many technological achievements. This gets expanded a bit in the 2049 movie as many changes and drastic events have shaped Earth since then. In the opening text, we learn that the Tyrell Corporation, which created many of the Replicants went bankrupt. Humanity has moved to other means of doing the hardest labor work on and off Earth. However, due to terrible conditions, unrest and various incidents, an enigmatic man named Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) had decided to buy the remnants of Tyrell and revive Replicants into full production. However, artificial humans are outlawed still and so the Blade Runner detectives are constantly ‘retiring’ any artificial human they find.
The movie opens with our main character K (Ryan Gosling) heading out to a farming center to complete an assignment. Afterward, he scans the surrounding area and reports to his boss Lt. Joshi (Robin Wright) who tells him to take off for a bit while her team digs some things up. K gets some R&R with his girlfriend Joi (Ana De Armas) but is called in abruptly as the cleanup crew has found something significant: a box that sends K on the most unbelievable case he will ever take.
K is a bit of a loner in this world, who rarely smiles and is rather dour, taking in only the briefest pleasures around him. When you see the world he moves through, you come to understand why he’s turned out this way. He’s also a very effective detective, quite capable of taking care of himself. Gosling gives K effective emotional ranges though when the situations call for them. (And yes, they do come into play.) K’s journey is quite interesting to take in here as he gets put through a lot. Equally important is the presence Harrison Ford infuses into the returning Rick Deckard. (No I’m not going to tell you how he fits into this story. You’ll just have to watch.) He’s still the gruff everyman with some emotional vulnerabilities like we all enjoyed in the 80s and 90s. Though much older, we see that he’s not entirely a pushover and still has a trick or two when needed.
The world director Denis Villeneuve presents to us here is a truly visceral and harrowing one K and Deckard deal with. Even accounting for the fact Ridley Scott’s rendition was shot on film versus Villeneuve having HD digital at his command, this new movie feels entirely congruent with its predecessor. There’s a wonderful mix of practical and CG effects to give 2049 the advanced atmosphere that is required with a few touches of retro-futurism. In this respect, it kind of reminded me of the classic Metropolis and the anime Giant Robo to a degree. Many homages to Syd Mead’s revolutionary designs from the original are present here, as much as the amusing product placement. I wouldn’t be surprised if they hid the Millennium Falcon again as a backdrop of some sort. The casting and general background still remain in style with the original. Much of this sensation is accentuated by the music score which feels right out of the first film. Done by Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer it’s as though the artists never stopped playing in the 30 years between productions and just continued the whole time. The mix of soft instrumentations and classic electronica give the movie a stoic dystopian feel like Logan’s Run and THX 1138.
The final aspect that has to be touched on is the story by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. Like the previous film, 2049 is very much a multi-layered work. Yes, you could take things at face value, but would you be correct in your interpretation of events? There is a lot to digest as things unfold. I’m a longtime fan of the original film and I still had to think about things I’d just witnessed here. To prepare audiences for 2049, Villeneuve commissioned three shorts for online distribution to bridge the gap between both films. The first two were live action ones posted to youtube.com. The initial one, “Nexus Dawn” focused on Wallace and his Replicant plans; and the next entitled “Nowhere To Run” talked about a character named Sapper Morton portrayed by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy). The third is a Japanese animated piece called “Black Out” directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame. (That’s right, Bubble Gum Crisis fans. Yours is no longer the only Blade Runner-esque anime.) It’s the longest of the short films and was originally released via Crunchyroll. This one tells why the world has changed between the two movies through a series of different incidents.
Before you watch the new movie, I definitely suggest watching the original and these shorts. And then after you see 2049, revisit all of it as there will be a lot to discuss among movie enthusiasts and sci-fi fans alike. Yes, you do have a seedy detective trekking through the trashy multicultural cyber sprawl of future Los Angeles, but there is much more to the screenplay than that. I honestly think Phillip K. Dick would be amazed at how his vision has been realized by both Ridley Scott and now Denis Villeneuve, who along with Fancher and Green has proven to be the perfect team to take the Blade Runner franchise forward, with hopefully future installments. As things currently stand, Blade Runner 2049 might be my favorite genre film of 2017 alongside Logan and Stephen King’s It, depending on when you catch me.
Til the next review…
Grade: A+