Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

BLADE RUNNER 2049  (2017)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Denis Villeneuve
    Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford. Robin Wright,
    Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Edward James Olmos,
    Dave Bautista, Sylvia Hoeks, Karla Juri, Sean Young
By the time the end credits rolled in "Blade Runner" back in 1982, hard-boiled L.A. cop Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) was about to go on the run with a replicant named Rachel (Sean Young), leaving behind four "retired" replicants and a clue to his own identity. The year (now closing in on us) was 2019. This sequel starts out 30 years after that, and the setting again is a teeming, grimy, dystopian Los Angeles. There's a newer, younger cop on the job and replicants are still being hunted, but the situation has gotten more complicated. The newer replicants are more advanced and self-aware, and may even be capable of reproduction. The key to the story again involves Deckard, now holed up by himself in an empty Las Vegas casino, his only companions a friendly black dog, a prodigious booze supply and holographic images of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. His mood and outlook have not improved. Another thing that's different this time around is that Deckard's de facto replacement, a blade runner called "K", is a replicant himself and knows it. He's played by Ryan Gosling, who fits the role as perfectly as Ford did, and it's only a matter of time before the old blade runner and the new one meet up. The underlying theme again is what does it mean to be human, and when artificially engineered entities can think and do and feel everything that humans can, what's the difference? The movie is longer than the earlier one and the plotting is more complex - possibly a little too long and too complex. And like the original, it's moody and deliberate when most sci-fi movies are going for flashy and fast. It looks and sounds great - Hans Zimmer's musical score picks up where Vangelis left off - and the script doesn't underestimate (or insult) a viewer's intelligence. Could there be another sequel? The conclusion leaves enough elements in play to make a third chapter possible. But probably not with Harrison Ford, if they're going to wait another 30 years.