Blade Runner was a film that came out in the fabled summer of 1982 alongside such classics as The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. Its no surprise that with that kind of competition the film was met with mixed reviews. With its meticulous plotting and neo noir sci-fi premise BladeRunner made its own rules, while giving us its iconic vision of a dystopian future. But over the years Blade Runner has been re-evaluated almost as many times as Scott has tinkered with his edit to produce what is now regarded as a science fiction masterpiece and rightfully so. The original’s story of a group of replicants seeking out their creator in the hopes of releasing them from their expiration dates is packed with some powerful themes that still resonate with audiences even today.
Blade Runner 2049 focuses on K (Ryan Gosling) a Blade Runner with the LAPD, who 30 years after the events of the first film is still hunting and “retiring” rogue replicants produced by the Tyrell Corporation. A lot has changed since the fall of Tyrell and the rise of the Wallace Corporation, who now produce a much more submissive model of replicant that has even been integrated into society allowing humanity to flourish. But when K makes a shocking discovery that could jeopardize that delicate balance of the slave/master relationship of replicants and humans, he is sent to destroy any evidence that could bring this discovery to light. This search leads K down a very dark path to none other than Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who went missing shortly after the events of the first film for help.

For fans of Blade Runner, Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, The Arrival) has given us a gift that feels less like a nostalgic retread, and more like the missing second half of the story we didn’t know we needed. Keeping with the pacing and visual style of the original, this film unfolds in a similar slow burn fashion as K unravels the mystery set before him. While Gosling here feels almost born to play K, its Harrison Ford who redeems Deckard in an understated performance that could easily be one of his best. This is all thanks to Hampton Fancher and Michael Green who have crafted a narrative that expands on the themes of the original while flipping the perspective around a bit to give us a better look on the replicant side of the argument. It’s no easy task, but this coupled with cinematography by Roger Deakins and production design by Dennis Gassner gives us an organic expansion of Ridley Scotts dystopian vision.
Blade Runner 2049 is a film the perfectly captures what made the first film a classic and effortlessly builds upon that without replicating any of the flaws of the original. Denis Villeneuve has achieved a near impossible task with a film that at times outshines the original while still tackling the philosophical themes that made the first film so thought provoking like – “what constitutes life?” and “can we really trust our memories?” Those questions combined with some real answers brings some much needed closure for fans of the first film, while still leaving the door open for something else. Visually stunning, dense and dreamlike Bladerunner 2049 stands right alongside the original, with an equally compelling story and characters that make the story one worth telling.