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Ryan Gosling does a man's job filling some difficult shoes in Blade Runner 2049 |
Director: Denis
Villeneuve
Cast: Ryan Gosling (Officer K), Harrison Ford (Rick
Deckard), Ana da Armas (Joi), Sylvia Hoeks (Luv), Robin Wright (Lt. Joshi),
Mackenzie Davis (Mariette), Carla Juri (Dr Ana Stelline), Lennie James (Mr
Cotton), Dave Bautista (Sapper Morton), Jared Leto (Niander Wallace), Barkhad
Abdi (Doc Badger), Edward James Olmos (Gaff), Sean Young (Rachael)
SPOILERS: It’s pretty
much impossible to discuss Blade Runner
2049 without revealing some of the workings of the plot. Since the film
makers have gone out of the way to say “don’t reveal any of the plot” I thought
it fair to say I’ll discuss some things fairly freely here. So you’ve been
warned!
Making a sequel is a risky business at the best of times.
Then imagine making a sequel to a film that is not just a cultural and artistic
landmark film but one people genuinely love. The possibility of creating a
massive disappointment? Pretty big. You need some guts to take that on – like
announcing you are making Gone with the
Wind: Blown Away or Casablanca:
Everyone Back to Rick’s. That’s the sort of challenge for the makers of the
long-awaited Blade Runner sequel.
Could they make something that both complemented and expanded on the original?
The year is 2049 (of course!). K (Ryan Gosling) is a Blade
Runner with the task of hunting down long-lived Nexus-8 replicants – the twist
being (and its revealed in the opening minutes of the film!) that K himself is
a replicant, a more obedient Nexus-9 model. After “retiring” aged replicant
farmer Sapper Morton (a career best Dave Bautista), K locates the buried remains
of a female replicant who died after an emergency caesarean section. Terrified
that replicants may be developing the ability to reproduce, K’s superiors order
him to “retire” the child and all who know of it. As K investigates, his
loyalties become ever more divided – while sinister corporate genius Niander
Wallace (Jared Leto) and his Nexus-9 hit-woman Luv (Sylvia Hoeks) have their
own plans for the replicant child.
So the big question is, does Blade Runner 2049 succeed? The answer is a firm and reassuring yes.
The big issue is, does the existence of this film affect (or even ruin) the
previous film? Blade Runner 2049 not
only complements the original, it builds on and expands its themes, and poses
far more questions than answers. In some ways it’s even more profound and
searching than the original – arguably it engages with ideas and concepts even
more overtly (and richly). If your concern going into this film was it would
end any discussion about whether Deckard is a replicant or not, then have no
fears – the question remains as open as ever (and works either way for this
story).
Even more than the original, this film tackles what it means
to be human and how we define humanity by the ability to express emotions and
empathy. It comes at this from a different stand-point from Blade Runner by removing any doubt about
our hero’s nature. What is more, he is a replicant deliberately designed to be
more obedient than earlier models. A cool, minimalist actor with a mastery of
small expressions, Ryan Gosling is almost perfectly cast as the quiet K,
developing deep yearnings to be more than what he is. The entire film revolves
around this question of how capable K is not only of forming emotions, but of
making his own choices.
The ability to live freely and choose is at the heart of the
conundrums for all our characters. To what extent are they able to do this? K
goes about his work of dispatching fellow replicants with a quiet reluctance,
but does his duty nevertheless. But he is a character yearning to be “more” –
and what, in many ways, is more human than that? The film taps into this
expertly with K’s belief that maybe he himself is replicant child. The film’s
mantra is about choosing what we live and what we die for and, regardless of
who or what we are, being able to do this is what makes us “more”.
In a film stuffed to the gills with replicants and other
artificial characters, we are constantly asked to address and question how far
each of them goes towards achieving “humanity”. Just as with Blade Runner, the only two definitely
human characters (Niander Wallace and Lt Joshi) are strangely distant, hard to
read or even cruel authoritarian figures, making a damn bad case for real
humans.
Joi (brilliantly played by Ana de Armas), K’s girlfriend, is
a warm, caring, loving woman – but she’s also a hologram, designed to be the
perfect companion. K and she go to great lengths to protect and care for each other
over the film – and her final fate is a deeply moving moment. But Joi is a
computer programme – and a late sequence in the film where K interacts sadly
with a looming holographic advert of another Joi that repeats many of her
phrases in a disconnected style casts a sad light on all their previous
interactions. Every time Joi said anything with love or affection to K, was
this just a computer reflecting back what her owner wanted to hear?
It’s not a great surprise to say K does eventually learn to
make his own choices and to decide his own fate. In many ways this is a fable
of growing up – K accepting his limitations while forging his own destiny – but
it makes a contrast with other replicants. While the older models form their
own resistance, K’s counterpart Luv (an imposing Sylvia Huks) can’t or won’t
break free of following Wallace’s commands. There are more than a few hints Luv
is not always happy with the duties she is asked to perform (at one point she
weeps quietly as a replicant is dispatched). But at others, she’s clearly
striving as much as K to be “special” – she triumphantly repeats a mantra to
herself about being the best, like a daughter trying to impress her father.
These new characters offer such diverse and exciting story-telling
opportunities, you almost don’t notice that Deckard doesn’t appear in the film
until nearly the third act. Harrison Ford may have been slightly uncomfortable
in the original – but he fully understands the more assured, confident Deckard
in this film, who has made his peace with leaving the world behind. Ford gives
this new Deckard an almost Han Solo-ish shoot-first swagger, but mixes it with
a world-weary sadness. I’d go so far as to say he’s actually better in this
film than the first one.
Which is a further testament to the strength of this film.
All the themes and ideas of the original are used as bouncing-off points for
further exploration. This never feels like a retread, reboot or remake – it
feels like a rich and rewarding piece of intelligent sci-fi by itself. I
actually feel it could be watched independently of the first film, and still
have plenty to offer. It’s not interesting in tying the first film up in a bow
– instead it serves as a stimulus for future discussion. You could imagine a
sequel to this film sustaining enough interest for 35 years.
Technically of course the film is an absolute marvel. Roger
Deakins’ photography is gorgeous, capturing every element of this dystopian
nightmare world in a series of brilliant images, in turns drained, bleached and
sun kissed. Every frame is artfully composed for maximum impact. The production
design is similarly magnificent, Dennis Gassner’s work melding the world of the
original, with its steam-punk look, with a mix of technological developments.
The score by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch is similarly perfect, giving
the film a brooding intensity.
But most of this artistry comes back to the film-making
mastery of Denis Villeneuve, a director so gifted I think he may be more
interesting than Ridley Scott. His control of the pace of the film is brilliant
– despite being very long, it never drags – and he shoots every scene with a
careful, intellectually engaged brilliance. He is able – possibly even more
than the original – to mix emotion and elliptical theorising, and to draw a
raft of brilliant performances from an outstanding cast. More than anything
else, he treats the audience with respect, giving them a measured and
thoughtful film that trusts we have patience. Villeneuve tops Arrival here, and does so with confident
aplomb.
Blade Runner 2049
is a film that demands to be seen more than once. It’s a patient and intensely
thoughtful piece of science fiction, that asks profound questions about
humanity and the characters in it. I don’t really feel from one viewing I’ve
got a grip on it – in fact the more I think about it, the more its haunting,
elegiac quality starts cramming into my head. You need to be patient and go
with it – you need to be in the right mindset for this slowburn concept film.
But, get in that mindset and this film is constantly rewarding. If you want to
criticise something, I will acknowledge that many of the female characters are
a little more clichéd (most are prostitutes or similar) – but this world where
many women seem to be in subservient roles to men is in many ways an extension
of the world created in the original film (and now an expression of the
dystopian future).
However this is a great film. A really great piece of adult
science-fiction. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest it may even (with repeated
viewings) have the legs to match the original.
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