I am absolutely stoked to be writing about the Blade Runner cinematic universe once more! I could not have been more thrilled with the announcement of Blade Runner 2049, but at the same time, I was very nervous. Why? Because most sequels suck. They don’t add anything substantial to the story and are often completely unnecessary. They amount to broken dreams and rotten reviews. Thank the powers that be that was not the case this time.
Director Denis Villeneuve knocks it out of the park with this cinematic masterpiece. Not only is it visually stunning, it is a massive improvement from the original (especially in the acting department… no offense Mr. Ford). The original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, conjured a powerful picture of a dystopian world in conflict with authenticity. The essential question being: what makes a human? Blade Runner 2049, which takes place thirty years after the original, expands on this idea, adding even more layers between the humans and replicants. Now, not only do replicants exists (human-like androids with implanted memories) but so do holographic androids that are very similar to the real life Japanese anime virtual home robots: Gatebox (or as I like to call them: Waifu-bots). This movie is like the beautiful three-way love child of the original Blade Runner, Mad Max, and Her. Could it get any better than that? Yes, actually it can.
Everything that fans love about the original returns. The opening aerial shots grace us with the familiar smoky neo-noir world of futuristic Los Angles, but in the following scenes of shadows and violence, we recognize what we are watching is a movie worthy to stand on its own. Ryan Gosling is the Harrison Ford of our time: the ideal masculine exterior that guards a tender side. Hands down, Gosling was made to play warm-hearted L.A.P.D officer K. K (a short nickname from his full name, which isn’t a name at all but a serial code). K.K is a new replicant model. They are more obedient and constantly tested for consistency, an ideal candidate for being a “Blade Runner.” Brutally nonchalant, K “retires” fellow replicants who have gone astray and follows orders as the perfect slave, as replicants were originally made to be. At the end of the day, K comes home to his loving girlfriend Joi, a holographic A.I house bot, a mirror of how K is in the world. Like watching a movie about movies, replicants mirror humans and A.I’s mirror replicants. This is a reflection on our own humanity and the idea that those that serve others are less than human. Again, we are asked to contemplate what truly makes us people. What makes a life official?
Director Denis Villeneuve knocks it out of the park with this cinematic masterpiece. Not only is it visually stunning, it is a massive improvement from the original (especially in the acting department… no offense Mr. Ford). The original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, conjured a powerful picture of a dystopian world in conflict with authenticity. The essential question being: what makes a human? Blade Runner 2049, which takes place thirty years after the original, expands on this idea, adding even more layers between the humans and replicants. Now, not only do replicants exists (human-like androids with implanted memories) but so do holographic androids that are very similar to the real life Japanese anime virtual home robots: Gatebox (or as I like to call them: Waifu-bots). This movie is like the beautiful three-way love child of the original Blade Runner, Mad Max, and Her. Could it get any better than that? Yes, actually it can.
Everything that fans love about the original returns. The opening aerial shots grace us with the familiar smoky neo-noir world of futuristic Los Angles, but in the following scenes of shadows and violence, we recognize what we are watching is a movie worthy to stand on its own. Ryan Gosling is the Harrison Ford of our time: the ideal masculine exterior that guards a tender side. Hands down, Gosling was made to play warm-hearted L.A.P.D officer K. K (a short nickname from his full name, which isn’t a name at all but a serial code). K.K is a new replicant model. They are more obedient and constantly tested for consistency, an ideal candidate for being a “Blade Runner.” Brutally nonchalant, K “retires” fellow replicants who have gone astray and follows orders as the perfect slave, as replicants were originally made to be. At the end of the day, K comes home to his loving girlfriend Joi, a holographic A.I house bot, a mirror of how K is in the world. Like watching a movie about movies, replicants mirror humans and A.I’s mirror replicants. This is a reflection on our own humanity and the idea that those that serve others are less than human. Again, we are asked to contemplate what truly makes us people. What makes a life official?
Color is an important factor in Blade Runner 2049, with gold being a huge symbol for hope and life throughout the film. This color pattern is established right from the get-go, after officer K disposes of replicant Sapper Morten (Dave Bautista). K observes delicate yellow flowers strategically placed under a dead tree. These flowers are the only bright color that stands out amongst the low-key deadlands of the farming field. Underneath those flowers, in the root of the tree, is the body of Rachel, the replicant love interest in the original Blade Runner. After observing her remains, they find that she died of childbirth, a feat once thought impossible for replicants. These little yellow flowers indicated the hope for life that was hidden within death. This idea of life is repeated in another scene later on with Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), a replicant manufacture who picked up the bankrupt Tyrell Corporation of the first film and his replicant assistant Luv (Sylvia Hoeks). In this scene, they asses a new replicant and discuss the rate of production. As she is released from her womb-like baggie, she falls to the floor covered in sticky, golden honey. The sweetness of the golden color contrast the dark scheming of Wallace and Luv, who are desperate to find the child Rachel has given birth to. The fact that a replicant gave birth, that a replicant functioned as human in every right, is something new and hopeful, yet frightening. The honey also connects to the bees found outside of Rick Deckard’s (Harrison Ford) hideout. The hive of bees seemed to stump many viewers and there are many fascinating interpretations for it. I feel yellow fuzzy bees were a sign of hope, to show that evolution is powerful and that it is possible to survive in the face of climate change. Another interpretation, one that is a subtle clue to who the special child is, is that the bees are a reference to Rachels answer to Deckard’s questions in the first movie. In the original, Rachel is asked that, in the case of a wasp being on her arm, what would she do? Her immediate reply was to kill it. However, officer K looks at the bee on his hand in wonder. This could be foreshadowing that K is, in fact, not Rachel and Deckard’s child. This color theme is apparent throughout the film, and is one I expected to see at the very end, but didn’t.
The last scene in which K leads Dickard to meet his daughter, the screen is overtaken by a gentle snow. It is the brightest scene in the movie and the calm quiet of it brings a strong sense of peace. The events of the movie have unfolded and as K lies down to die in the pristine snow we are reminded of words uttered previously in the film: to die for something you believe in is the most human thing you can do. It is the answer to the unspoken question of the series, and as K passes (knowing he is not the child, that he was made and not born and that he is not human) he feels human. He believes he can be human and with his final act, he is the monument for new beginnings. A blank slate for new creations.
I could honestly go on and on about the symbolism and cinematic excellency that is Blade Runner 2049, but I will leave that to other more experienced film reviewers. I would 100% go to see it a million times over, if just to laugh again at the genre-joke thrown in about it being too “dark” (hehehe noir films hehehe).
I could honestly go on and on about the symbolism and cinematic excellency that is Blade Runner 2049, but I will leave that to other more experienced film reviewers. I would 100% go to see it a million times over, if just to laugh again at the genre-joke thrown in about it being too “dark” (hehehe noir films hehehe).