I love Blade Runner despite needing multiple viewings to appreciate the full scope of the influential noir sci-fi classic. When they announced the sequel, I reacted: Hey, Hollywood, hands off. However, Denis Villeneuve is currently my favourite director. There wasn’t a misstep in his last five – yes, five – films. His stories range from realistic (Prisoners) to absurd (Arrival), but all share one essence: Plausibility. Who better to lead the next Blade Runner? After all, it depicts a dystopian future populated with android slaves lorded over by megacorporations, yet feels lived-in and, most of all, plausible. Bring back the original screenwriter, throw in Ryan Gosling to lead, and hire legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, and 2049 became my most anticipated film of 2017 by far. There was no way it could meet my lofty expectations. Or so I thought.
Blade Runner 2049 is set thirty years after the 1982 original. The Tyrell corporation has gone bust, and the latest series of replicants are manufactured by the Wallace corporation to be totally subservient. Gosling plays an LAPD officer tasked with hunting down the illegal Tyrell-era replicants. When he makes a new discovery that shakes the world – and his beliefs – he embarks on a dangerous investigation. And it’s fucking incredible.
First, it’s hard to overstate how gorgeous 2049 is. Its ingenious production design presents a future that looks nothing like Earth thirty-two years from today (we hope), but looks precisely how the world of Blade Runner would look thirty years on. Deakins comes out in full force here, utilising his mastery of shadows and vibrant colour; a vivid and immersive depiction of the bleak, neon-drenched future LA. The orange/teal colour palette is mocked for being cliche these days but no film has done it better, infused with the sick-gold lights of corporate headquarters and the desaturated landscapes of synthetic farms. You could print any frame of 2049 and you’ve got a poster. See it in a cinema. This is the year Deakins earns his fourteenth Oscar nomination and first win, I guarantee it.
The sound design is just as compelling. The rumble of Gosling’s flying cop car, the grating robotic voice of a computer administering psychological examinations, the friendly Wallace Corp jingle – it all fuses together to construct a believable world. I was disappointed that Vangelis didn’t return after his transcendent electronic soundtrack for the original, but Wallfisch and Zimmer’s pulsating score adds a new, threatening dimension to the world of Blade Runner, which helped 2049 depart from the original.
And that brings me to my biggest praise of 2049. Not only is it heavily tied to the events of the first film, with minor plot details and major character arcs making a resurgence and influencing the story, it stands on its own as an original self-contained film. It finds the perfect balance between extending the original’s plot and themes while fleshing out the world and saying something new.
In fact, 2049 avoids every sequel pitfall you can think of. It doesn’t overly rely on members of the original cast, it isn’t overcrowded with Easter eggs or fan service, it isn’t a reboot or rehash, it doesn’t waste time setting up sequels or franchise fodder, and, most of all, it does nothing to tarnish the continuity of the gloriously ambiguous original. This is a rare case of Hollywood letting film makers craft a respectful, artful, and worthy sequel to a classic without monetising the shit out of it. In fact, 2049 might be the most respectful delayed sequel ever made.
Harrison Ford returns as Deckard, and again, he isn’t overused. His mindset and history logically follow from the conclusion of the original. And it’s wonderful to see Ford fully dedicate himself to this role once more. Gosling is as sublime as ever, bringing the quiet intensity he brought to Drive while beautifully capturing the grief and rage that accompany the plot’s many existential puzzles. And hey, Jared Leto is pretty good!
Do you need to see the original before 2049? Absolutely. 2049 tells its own story, but it’s so intimately tied to the themes introduced in the original that you’d be doing yourself and the film makers an extreme disservice by wasting such a wonderfully crafted sequel. Also, some trailers of 2049 make it look like an action blockbuster. It isn’t. Like the first, it’s a deliberately paced neo-noir detective story set in the future. The slow pace is too much for some viewers to handle, but if you love getting lost inside creative and vividly realised worlds while reflecting on a bunch of introspective philosophical questions, you’ll love these films.
A minor gripe I had was that there was nobody to match Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty, or any dialogue quite as poignant as his iconic tears in rain monologue. But again, 2049 is going for something very different, so to knock it for not including something like this is unfair. There is, however, a jaw-dropping sequence featuring Ana de Armas that took hold of me and hasn’t yet let go – it’s one of the many aspects of 2049 I can’t get out of my head.
As was the case with Mad Max: Fury Road, the only downside to 2049 is that you’ll forever expect more from big-budget films. This is how a film with $150+ million behind it should look and sound. Whenever I watch a Marvel film, I’m continually baffled by how so much money goes on so little (this guy explains how Marvel’s films look bland, and this guy gives an excellent breakdown of their uninspired music). Villeneuve shows everyone how it’s done.
I’m gobsmacked by how great this film is that I’m getting teary-eyed thinking about it. 2049 has everything. It expands on the original plot and lore in fresh and unexpected ways. Its complex, cerebral story winds through a fully realised, beautifully-shot world, told through fascinating characters played by actors giving career-defining performances, with an intense and emotional culmination that breathes warm life into the cold metal future of humanity. Don’t believe it’s that good? Then, indeed: I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.
It’s probably my favourite film of 2017. But I still say the most essential film to watch this year is Mother! Here’s why.
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to check out my other reviews, including my breakdowns of every episode of Game of Thrones season 7.
Image credit: Warner Bros
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