I might as well start out by saying that the original 1982
Blade Runner is one of my favorite films of all time (or at least, the last out
of the half-dozen cuts or so). The second of Ridley Scott’s seminal
scifi-classics, Blade Runner possesses a gorgeous art design and atmosphere
rich enough to drink, creating a dark and neon-fused world of decay and
collapse that seems to enter reality with each passing day. The story is one of
the nature of humanity and what becomes of lifeforms that we create—or it can
be seen as just a neonoir story of a hard-boiled cop chasing down desperate
bio-android fugitives. And then there’s the awesome Vangelis soundtrack. Either
way, even putting aside it’s immense influence on everything cyberpunk and
dystopian, I love it, which brings us to the recently released Blade Runner
2049—and fortunately, they didn’t make 2048 other sequels in the interim.
I admit, on hearing the announcement, I did roll my eyes.
Another Blade Runner? Really? The ambiguity of the original was one of the
things I loved, and I worried that a new one would dilute that. Okay, there were
some sequel novels to the film back in the 90s, but nobody remembers those, so who
cares.
But then. I saw a little film called Arrival, now entrenched
as a modern scifi classic, and noted that the director, Denis Villenueve, was
attached to this one. Then, I smiled, and decided to give this one a chance. So,
having seen it, does it glitter like C-Beams in the dark off the Tannhauser
Gate, or should it be washed away like tears in the rain? Well…
The plot concerns an LAPD ‘Blade Runner’ detective called K—who
happens to be a replicant, basically a biological android. This was one of the
ambiguous notes hanging over Harrison Ford’s Deckard in the original, but this
one pretty much states it outright on the onset. And so, as a replicant tasked with
killing other replicants, a routine job for K accidentally unearths something world-changing
from the past, one that launches him into a personal quest that brings him up
against Jared Leto’s corporate replicant manufacturer Wallace, and with several
twists and turns on the way. The story definitely has solid beats, but is a bit
held back by the overindulgent length, which we’ll get to.
First, let’s start with the visuals—like with Arrival, it’s
A-plus, with the opening flight pan over LA taking us over favela-like sprawls
to canyons of skyscrapers clustered together and crowded with neon holograms.
It has a starker, ‘art installation’ look compared to the chaotic infusions of
technology and architecture the old one had, but it works as a style unto
itself. There’s great practical modelwork involved, that helps show off
landscapes like the trash pile San Diego has become, or the monolithic,
dust-covered spires of a devastated Las Vegas. It all helps sell the dystopian world
the first film codified, with touches such as snow in the streets of southern
California, or the seawall being on the site of Mulholland Drive.
Then there’s the themes—in some respects, it feels more in
the spirit of Philip K Dick than the original film was, focusing less on
natures of humanity and more on what defines real and consciousness. A running
thread is K’s relationship with a holographic girlfriend, who, despite being
just an artificial product, genuinely seems to be attracted to him, leading to
a rather… interesting love scene. K, meanwhile, chases ghost memories that,
let’s just say, may not be what they seem. It’s nice and interesting, and helps
give the story and the shots more weight to them.
So far, so good. Unfortunately, it loses itself somewhat in
the last act—we get to meet Jared Leto’s character more, and he plays the part
of someone up the rear end of his god complex, though between his character’s
strange mutterings we’re not really left clear on why he’s doing what he’s
doing. Likewise, it’s a shame he’s played more as an outright villain—Tyrell,
his equivalent in the first, felt more complex than that, and alongside this, we
get some strands that feel like annoying sequel setup. Fortunately, it’s not an
outright action movie like some trailers suggested—there’s some explosions, but
it’s pretty brief, and makes sense enough in context.
Harrison Ford shows up fairly late into the film, and he isn’t
showered with fanservice glory like he was in Force Awakens—Deckard here has clearly
had enough and is a broken man, definitely something different from the
confident cop he was in the first. He does alright, though some may have wanted
more proactive turns on his part.
The film is also almost three hours long, and while I am a
sucker for gorgeous panning shots of intricate landscapes, there are definitely
ways it could’ve been trimmed, to bring it more in line with the first. Still, with
the half-dozen or so cuts of Blade Runner, I suppose it’s only fitting that
this could also be tinkered with down the line.
And finally, there’s the ending. It’s no ‘tears in the rain’,
but you can get some satisfaction out of it, and thankfully it avoids a certain
cliché. Nevertheless, between the length and some unresolved strands, it lacks
that right mixture of resolution of ambiguity the first one had.
All in all, as a contemporary science fiction film, it’s very
solid, with great visuals, some thought-provoking parts, and decent
performances. I have mixed feelings on it as a continuation of Blade Runner,
though I admit at the end of the day it was a tough act to follow. It’s not for
everyone, however, between the slow pace and the length, and unfortunately, this
seems to be showing at the US box office right now.
It’s a shame it won’t live—but then, what does…
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