A flying car speeds past the towers of an Atari building.
By Nathan Simms
By all accounts, Blade Runner 2049 (Villeneuve, 2017) was a box office bomb. With an estimated budget of $150 million, the film needed to make significant returns to break even, which it failed to do. However, do not let its financial success be the deciding factor in whether or not you see it. Despite its poor performance, Blade Runner 2049 is a visually stunning and philosophically poignant sequel to a film that never needed one.
The original Blade Runner (Scott, 1982) helped to usher in and define Neo-Noir in American cinema. Stuffed with smoke and smog, the Los Angeles of 2019 is a dark and mysterious place, where Blade Runner Rick Deckard hunts humanoid robots known as Replicants.
By all accounts, Blade Runner 2049 (Villeneuve, 2017) was a box office bomb. With an estimated budget of $150 million, the film needed to make significant returns to break even, which it failed to do. However, do not let its financial success be the deciding factor in whether or not you see it. Despite its poor performance, Blade Runner 2049 is a visually stunning and philosophically poignant sequel to a film that never needed one.
The original Blade Runner (Scott, 1982) helped to usher in and define Neo-Noir in American cinema. Stuffed with smoke and smog, the Los Angeles of 2019 is a dark and mysterious place, where Blade Runner Rick Deckard hunts humanoid robots known as Replicants.
The cityscape of the original 1982 Blade Runner
30 years later, Blade Runner and Replicant K-played wonderfully by Ryan Gosling-hunts even more advanced Replicants in a future that is considerably more bleak. The visuals of 2049 match wonderfully with the cityscape and Neo-Noir feel of the original. Known for his prior collaborations with Denis Villeneuve, Cinematographer Roger Deakins absolutely builds upon the visual language of the first film and evolves it into something that simply must be seen to be understood. 2049 features a number of wide, sweeping shots which show the world in its gritty glory. As human pollution has worsened, the smoke and fog of the original are exacerbated to a point of figurative suffocation.
K, played by Ryan Gosling, and Joi, Ana de Armas, are transfixed under the rain of future Los Angeles.
A number of times, K leaves the city and travels through an agrarian portion of California to work on his case.
In these scenes, we get our largest glimpse into the effect of pollution outside of an urban environment. And it looks very much the same. The permanent night and neon light of the city are absent in these scenes, but the sun-bleached vistas that are offered instead are not much more uplifting. Ultimately, the cinematography of this film is an experience unto itself. It is evident that Deakins and Villeneuve but an extraordinary amount of thought into each shot and sequence. Each and every scene features something eye catching, from the overall composition to the miniscule details featured in the mise-en-scene.
The story of Blade Runner 2049 is also artfully crafted. The questions posited in the original, such as “what makes us human?”, are addressed again in the sequel and are significantly expanded upon. At the same time, the ambiguity and general lack of closure from Blade Runner continue into 2049, leaving the audience with a feeling that they cannot really put a finger on.
Blade Runner 2049 is a movie that simply must be experienced to be understood. It is one of the most raw and visceral films that I have seen in recent memory, and its visuals and soundscape stick out in my mind. 2049 is cinematographically gorgeous film and a surprisingly good sequel to an 80’s movie, a definite departure from recent pulpy 80’s remakes. Despite its financial failure, maybe 2049 will find its success in the same manner that the box-office bomb Blade Runner did, finding its identity as a cult-classic.
The story of Blade Runner 2049 is also artfully crafted. The questions posited in the original, such as “what makes us human?”, are addressed again in the sequel and are significantly expanded upon. At the same time, the ambiguity and general lack of closure from Blade Runner continue into 2049, leaving the audience with a feeling that they cannot really put a finger on.
Blade Runner 2049 is a movie that simply must be experienced to be understood. It is one of the most raw and visceral films that I have seen in recent memory, and its visuals and soundscape stick out in my mind. 2049 is cinematographically gorgeous film and a surprisingly good sequel to an 80’s movie, a definite departure from recent pulpy 80’s remakes. Despite its financial failure, maybe 2049 will find its success in the same manner that the box-office bomb Blade Runner did, finding its identity as a cult-classic.
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