"I prefer to keep an empty stomach, until the hard part of the day is done." One thing that's always made Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner stand apart from other films of the genre was that first and foremost, it was a hard-boiled detective noir, served with all the tropes. It was also visually stunning to behold. So fans of the original should breathe easy knowing both those aspects loom large in director Denis Villeneueve's long-anticipated sequel, Blade Runner 2049.
We'll try and stay spoiler-free here, which won't be easy. But it's worth emphasizing that Blade Runner 2049 is no hastily assembled cash-grab follow-up. 2049 is clearly a labor of love by all concerned. A film that realizes the impossible task that's been asked of it - to deliver a worthy 2nd chapter to one of the most adored cult films in modern movies. Fortunately, Denis Villeneueve's the right man for the job. With Arrival and Sicario, he's become one of the top visionary directors working today, right up there with Christopher Nolan. The script is by original Blade Runner screenwriter Hampton Fancher (along with Logan scribe Michael Green), and that familiarity (like Lawrence Kasdan's involvement on Star Wars: The Force Awakens) gives the new film familiar rhythms and tones that fit cleanly, without visible seams.
Ryan Gosling is K, a Blade Runner 30 years removed from the story of Rick Deckard and Roy Batty. He's capable, shrewd and weary, with no reluctance to do what needs to be done. I was a bit leery of Gosling's casting, but he is absolutely perfect in this role. From the opening scene opposite a hulking recluse played by Dave Bautista, you're drawn in. K's boss at the LAPD (another fantastic Robin Wright performance) expects him to do her bidding, get results and don't ask questions.
But the past just won't stay buried, and K's curiosity - fueled by a detective's need to get to the bottom of things and close loose ends - draws him off his normal beat and onto a larger game board. Thirty years from the events of the original, Replicants are more a part of society than ever, thanks to the work of a new genetic industrialist, Niander Wallace (Jared Leto). Leto is creepy in the extreme - but it kills knowing that Villeneueve originally wanted David Bowie for this part, who sadly died before filming began. Wallace is far more ruthless than Eldon Tyrell appeared to be, and his reach is vast. Sylvia Hoeks is terrific as one of the more forceful instruments of his authority.
Blade Runner 2049 is thrilling. Villeneueve has once again partnered with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who tops himself here, painting on a vast, surreal canvas. The use of light and shadow in 2049 is going to be studied for a long time. His compositions meld seamlessly with special effects, creating a steely, saturated world of pale longing and fleeting eruptions of color. It's a staggering achievement. The film manages to evoke influences as diverse as Chinatown, Angel Heart and Stanley Kubrick, while feeling very much its own unique place and time. It's thrilling that for his next film, Villeneueve is mounting his own version of Dune - easily the film I'm most excited to see made right now. God, I hope he gets Deakins to join up again on that one!
If Blade Runner 2049 has a fault (and I'm not sure it does), it's that it might be too long for its own good. Clocking in at 2 hours and 43 minutes, the story takes its time, and modern audiences may find their patience tested at times. Enthralling as it is, there are some side-steps and lulls that feel like they hurt the story's momentum - but there's so much going on in this story, I just don't feel like one viewing is enough to say that's the case. I suspect subsequent viewings are going to close their own loose ends, and make the choices clearer and the subtlety of plot that much richer. It's a lot to take in.
Like Ridley Scott's original, Blade Runner 2049 is an existential noir about self, identity, memory and the past. Parts of our selves may be hidden from us, but in the end, its our choices that reveal who we really are.
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