K also begins to wonder whether or not he’s really a replicant, a flip on the question posed by Deckard (Harrison Ford) in the original film. While investigating a case, K discovers evidence that a replicant has given birth, the repercussions from which could shatter the nature of the known universe. He’s a replicant himself, and a pretty lonely one at that he’s derided as a “skinjob” by his co-workers, and his sole companion is Joi (Ana de Armas), a Siri-like holographic sex bot that is programmed to care for him. In “2049” Ryan Gosling plays “K,” a “blade runner” for the LAPD who hunts down bio-engineered androids known as replicants.

Skip the theatrical version and check out 2007’s “Final Cut.”) (And yes, you should see “Blade Runner” before heading into “2049,” whether for the first time or as a refresher. Dick novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”Įven “Blade Runner” itself has difficulty living up to the “Blade Runner” myth go back and watch it, it’s pretty plodding for large stretches. That is a rather amazing feat in and of itself, since “Blade Runner’s” influence is so massive that no other filmmaker has even attempted to follow it up, save for Scott himself, who has offered up a handful of supplemental cuts over the years that tinker with the details of the story, an adaptation of the Philip K. This is a movie that takes on the nature of reality itself, a highwire act that could cause many filmmakers to go splat. “2049” is a tough, brooding film that is, for the most part, as complex and challenging as it thinks it is.

There is so much to take in that the film feels closer to the two-hour mark than it does the three, and given that there are some 90-minute films out there that feel twice their length, that’s a positive. That stunning visual palate, brought to life by director Denis Villeneuve (“Sicario,” “Arrival”) and cinematographer Roger Deakins, doesn’t justify “2049’s” absurd 163-minute running time, but it helps soften the blow. That includes “The Terminator,” “The Fifth Element,” “The Matrix,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Minority Report,” Billy Idol’s “Cyberpunk” album and the Spice Girls’ video for “Spice Up Your Life.” Basically, anything that took on the look of neon-lit neo-Tokyo owes a debt to Ridley Scott’s original.

That’s saying a lot, since 1982’s “Blade Runner” pretty much set the template for anything gritty, rainy and future-set that followed in its wake. “Blade Runner 2049” is an eyeful, a visual extravaganza that matches and even tops its predecessor in terms of futuristic dystopian urban wasteland beauty.

Blade and soul bot 2017