Film Review - Blade Runner 2049 (15)

I want to ask you some questions.

Let's be clear straight off. Blade Runner 2049 is a film for people who know and love the original. It's aimed squarely at those who took the 1982 dystopian classic to their hearts and cherish it there. If that's you, go see the new one. If the experience left you cold, then all the stunning visuals and brooding philosophy of 2049 will bore you silly. And if you haven't seen the first one at all, then you'll be baffled into the bargain. Welcome to October's movie Marmite. 

Blade Runner is a cult classic that failed at the box-office, but achieved lasting status due to the acclaim of movie critics and fans of thoughtful science-fiction. Set in a grimly over-populated 2019 Los Angeles, it concerns a group of 'replicants' - artificially engineered humans used as slave labour on colonial worlds, who have broken from captivity and returned to Earth seeking the longevity denied them by their biological programming. Harrison Ford plays Deckard, a 'blade runner', whose job is to hunt down and destroy or 'retire' rogue replicants. But his view of his own work starts to change, when he gets emotionally entangled with one of the female replicants he is meant to pursue. 

It's morally complex stuff, with a protagonist whose mission is a dirty one, and antagonists who could easily be viewed as heroic. It's also seething with questions about life and consciousness and memory, with an added environmental subtext. (2019 LA is a grim environment, garish neon illuminating the darkness.) 

With both Harrison Ford and screen writer Hampton Fancher on board, Blade Runner 2049 shares much DNA with the original, while having evolved in every conceivable way. The vistas are bigger, the vision more epic, the exploration into life's meaning more profound (and more glacially slow). Ryan Gosling leads proceedings, playing a guy in the same profession as Deckard before him. Known only as 7 'K', he is a new-model replicant himself, tasked with hunting down and retiring older types who have gone underground. The LA he patrols is plunged even further into darkness, while rural California is a bleached desert, all due to further environmental catastrophes. Then one assignment leads to the discovery of a dark buried treasure, which links to the past in a way that will transform 'K''s destiny and possibly that of many others.

This is a film that thinks huge and has visuals to match. Directed by Arrival's Denis Villeneuve its look is uncluttered but constantly dazzling. Earth is in one sorry state, but it still looks amazing - full of devastated beauty. The advancement of science fiction ideas is a marvel too, one aspect of 2049 artificial intelligence proving unexpectedly moving. And the whole thing throbs with a score co-written by Hans Zimmer, who pays homage to Vangelis, the music scribe first time around.

Gosling is sombre, where Ford was brooding, though his passion when sparked runs deep. He's in a La La Land with all the joy drained out of it, and the result speaks volumes for his acting range. There's wonderful support too - Robin Wright as his tough boss, Ana de Armas as a highly unusual lover and Harrison Ford himself, grizzled and defensive, and clearly determined to revisit every role he played in the '80s. (Witness 2: Once an Amish is surely on the cards). 

As for the plot - it's as profound as the film is sometimes ponderous, providing breathtaking moments for Blade Runner fans, that will leave everyone else scratching their heads. This is cerebral science-fiction simultaneously at its best and its most self-indulgent. It's a a gourmet delight for those already on board, a feast for the eye and the brain. But like its predecessor, this is not a meal for everyone.

Gut Reaction: Struggling at times, enthralled at others. Enthrallment was the winner.

Ed's Verdict: Yes it's arse-numbingly slow, but it plays beautiful homage to the original while kicking out that film's walls with a slew of amazing new ideas. Watch the original first, and bring a cushion to the cinema.