Movie Plot- Blade Runner 2049: The young Blade Runner K’s discovery of a hidden secret leads him to find the long-lost Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who has vanished for thirty years.
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Hampton Fancher, Michael Green
Cast: Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto
An unexpected sequel
Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel that came out 30 years after the first one. With Blade Runner, Scott took his second giant step into the sci-fi genre after Alien. Because of the combination of film noir, philosophical approach, and the unusual pace, the film was not for everyone. Even the critics were not unanimous at the time.
Some sprinkle with words like ‘instant classic’ and ‘masterpiece.’ But what remains is that Blade Runner 2049 will not be everyone’s cup of tea with its over one hundred and sixty minutes of playing time. You have to have the courage to make a sequel to what is now considered an important milestone in film history. Scott gave Denis Villeneuve the directing job, who left an immense impression with the Oscar-nominated Incendies and sci-fi-mystery Arrival. Incendies is another movie I have to see.
I advise people to see the first Blade Runner movie anyway. It may play years later and has a new main character, but it remains a sequel.
The year 2049
This time Ryan Gosling is the blade runner who detects the faulty synthetic replicants in the Los Angeles in 2049. The world is a different place now that the original manufacturer of the duplicators is defunct, and the food supply of the planet has become artificial as well. The replicants are mainly put to heavy slave labor in the colonies. As Gosling’s character is shortened, agent K finds out more than his mission and searches for the senior blade runner who has been missing for thirty years.
Questions also pop up for who he really is. Of course, I can’t say too much, or else I’ll spoil the film for you. All I can say is that there is more going on than just his mission.
Gosling is a suitable successor of Harrison Ford and knows how to grab the atmosphere of the film. Until then, you’re sucked into a dystopian world where real and fake are hardly distinguishable anymore. Even love can be simulated, which is one of the many visual highlights Villeneuve has in store for his audience.
Ana de Armas is also in the film as a kind of program projected as a woman with her own thoughts. However, these are not really her own thoughts as they are programmed according to the client’s wishes. She appears more and more in the spotlight, and I am curious to see more of her, myself. I must also say that she is incredibly beautiful, so you’ll never hear me complain either. Even though she plays in a bad movie like Knock Knock.
Feels like Blade Runner
Villeneuve regularly lets you look with open mouths at the impressive images of foggy cities full of loud advertising, huge garbage dumps and abandoned factories, and many East Asian women. No idea why this is a thing in Blade Runner, but it’s there. Gosling, for whom K’s role was specially written, portrays the main character who doesn’t just look cool and skillful but gives depth to his role with thoughtful acting.
Villeneuve really seems to be renewing the science fiction genre for the second time. After all, the focus is not on special effects or stupid action but on the intelligent story. The story drags you through the beautiful world of K, and you never realize that the print lasts almost three hours. On top of that, I must say that I enjoyed the sequel more than the first one.
Conclusion
Blade Runner 2049, like its predecessor, is not for everyone. Not every popcorn visitor will agree with Villeneuve’s slow-sci-fi or the unpredictable, at times hard to figure out the story. Besides the beautiful pictures and excellent interpretations, the good thing about this sequel is that you never know what’s around the corner.
Topazzi World 