We all crave the simpler life from time-to-time, but mostly there’s just a job to do and that appears to be as much the case for Blade Runners as it is for the rest of us. Ridley Scott (Alien: Covenant) has managed to clock up his second big rebirth with the upcoming release of Blade Runner 2049, and this time around there will be two of them in the mix with both Harrison Ford (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Ryan Gosling (La La Land) in the frame for the robot hunting action.
The trailer (below) does a pretty good job of building the hype machine for the film, but then Prometheus did something very similar back in 2014 and went on to disappoint. If anything, the pressure is on even more this time because of the cult status of the original film, and the fact that is hasn’t had any followup until now. Denis Villeneuve took the reigns for the sequel following on from the success of Sicario and Arrival, and you can find out more about how it turned out in our review summary and video at the bottom of the page.
Release date
Blade Runner 2049 had a UK release date of Thursday the 5th October 2017, which is the same date as its arrival in the US. It has a fairly clear release window with nothing much else out on the same weekend in the UK. In addition to standard screenings, you’ll also be able to watch it in Real D 3D and IMAX, but for us it’s probably more of a 2D film.
The DVD and Blu-ray won’t be out in the UK until the New Year, and in all fairness it’s a film that deserves to be see on the bid screen for the visuals and sound alone.
Story
The plot is set thirty years after the events of the 1982 original with a story that sees LAPD Blade Runner Officer K discovering a secret about replicant technology that could destroy any semblance of order left in the human society that exists in 2049. As he starts to dig he’s forced to hunt down former LAPD Blade Runner, Rick Deckard, in a bid to make sense of it all.
You can see from the trailer below that the two go on to meet, despite the fact that Deckard has been missing for the last thirty years, so it would appear as though there’s much more to it all than we’re shown.
Blade Runner 2049 trailer:
Cast
In addition to Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford as Officer K and Rick Deckard, the Blade Runner 2049 cast also includes Ana de Armas (War Dogs) as K’s cyber girlfriend Joi, Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks as the killing machine Luv, Robin Wright (Wonder Woman) as Lieutenant Joshi, wrestler Dave Bautista (Guardians Of The Galaxy 2) as Nexus 8 in hiding Trapper Morton and Mackenzie Davis (The Martian) as Mariette.
Jared Leto takes on the role of super rich villain Niander Wallace, which was confirmed by the production in 2016. Carla Juri plays Dr. Stelline, Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) puts in a short appearance as Doc Badger, David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man) plays forensics officer Coco, Hiam Abbass (Limits Of Control) plays Freysa, and Lennie James (Snatch, 24 Hour Party People) stars as trash baron Mister Cotton.
Production
Denis Villeneuve is the director of the film and considering the fact that his last two releases were Sicario in 2015 and Arrival last year, he was poised to deliver his third epic movie. It’s been written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, and Roger Deakins (Skyfall) is the director of photography, having worked with Villeneuve on Sicario.
Synthia Sikes Yorkin, Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove and Bud Yorkin are down as producers, while Ridley Scott, Frank Giustra, Tim Gamble and Bill Carraro are executive producers for Scott Free Productions and Thunderbird Entertainment.
You can see more on the film on Ryan Gosling’s Twitter page @RyanGosling.
Review
We’re always dubious about sequels of this nature, especially with the length of the gap between the two films, and the disappointment of Prometheus. However, following the more positive delivery of Alien: Covenent, there was renewed hope for Blade Runner 2049.
Ridley Scott’s involvement isn’t as significant as in the Alien films, but more importantly it’s got Denis Villeneuve in the director’s chair and a strong supporting team for the production. It’s also got Gosling and Harrison Ford on board, as well as an impressive trailer, so all of the pieces were starting to fall into place prior to the release date.
However, the story lets it down slightly and while the cinematography from Deakins is incredible, and the score from Hans Zimmer is awe inspiring throughout, it isn’t enough to stack up to the cult classic legacy of the original. The cast is very strong, led with great balance from Ryan Gosling, but the overly-convoluted plot, ribbon bow links to the past and biblical appropriation keep it from being perfect. Read our full review for more details.
