Classic Film Review #12: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Available on: Netflix

The impact of the original Blade Runner on the sci-fi genre is well documented but cannot be overstated. Ridley Scott’s vision of a dystopian future remains one of the most forward-thinking films of its kind, and it’s for this reason that the weight of expectation surrounding this Denis Villeneuve directed sequel was so intense.

Set three decades after the first instalment, Blade Runner 2049 is focused on LAPD officer K (a powerfully emotionless, Drive-esque performance from Ryan Gosling), a replicant whose only purpose in life is to hunt down and retire older, more sentient models. However, a devastating discovery begins a chain of events which force K to question the nature of his reality and eventually seek out the help of Rick Deckard (a returning Harrison Ford) to help to uncover the truth about replicants.

A blockbuster that is unafraid to engage on an intellectual level, Villeneuve’s film deals with concurrent themes of mortality, identity, slave culture, and, perhaps most of all, memory. These topics are only made more intellectually visceral by Villeneuve and Roger Deakins’ beguiling and nightmarish future vision, which serves as a fitting ode to Scott’s arresting original.