It is 35-years since the 1982 Ridley Scott classic sci-fi movie Blade Runner blew people’s minds. This is the much-awaited sequel that Blade Runner fans have been waiting for.
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Blade Runner K 2049

The original movie was set in 2019. This follow up to the space age Detective thriller takes us forward 30 years and shows us what we have to look forward to in yet another dystopian future.

Harrison Ford played the Detective come exterminator (or Blade Runner as they are known) Rick Deckard in the original film and was tasked with tracking down and eliminating replicants who have gone rogue and slaughtered humans in an Off-World Colony.

Fast forward 30-years later and the Blade Runners are still in service. The Tyrell Corporation responsible for creating the original replicant’s is no longer in existence and has been replaced by The Wallace Corporation headed up by their blind creator Niander Wallace (Jared Leto).
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K getting closer

We are told that the new order of Wallace replicants are totally subservient and one of LAPD’s finest (also a replicant) known only as Detective K (Ryan Gosling); has orders to eradicate the old Tyrell androids who were part of the NEXUS 6 batch that began to think for themselves 30 years ago.

It is when K gets a lead on a NEXUS 6 replicant called Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista) who has retired to a protein farm, that his life is changed forever. Following an altercation with Morton, K discovers something buried on the farm that makes him re-think his own origin.
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NEXUS 6 Replicant Sapper Morton (David Bautista)

When reporting back to his superior, Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright sporting a crucial hair style) she links the find with an ex human Blade Runner called Rik Deckard (Harrison Ford) who fled LA with a replicant Rachael (Sean Young) that he fell in love with.

K now has a new mission, to find Deckard and bring him in. However, Niander Wallace also wants Deckard for questioning and sends his personal assistant and enforcer Luv (Sylvia Hoeks) to find Deckard first. Don’t be fooled by her name. Luv is the 2049 version of the killing machine that was NEXUS 6 replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) in Blade Runner(1982).
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Deckard in hiding

When K finally tracks down Deckard who is hiding out in a Las Vegas theatre it’s an iconic moment for the audience to cherish. Although, it’s Deckard who gets the upper hand. There is a great scene when Deckard is initially unsure of K and there is a shoot-out in the actual theatre stage, which triggers off an array of futuristic holograms of a singing Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and later a miniature Sinatra crooning in a bell jar.

Gosling was made for this role of K and fits him like a glove. This is a man full of questions, uncertain of his own background not sure if he is a replicant or part human? His only relationship is with a life size hologram of his ideal partner Joi (Ana de Armas) who he awakes in his run-down bedsit when he comes home and confides in and clearly has affection for.
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K- Where we're going we don't need roads!

Director Denis Villeneuve who was responsible for last year’s Sci fi hit Arrival (2016), has done a great job of following up what is a massive iconic sci-fi movie and I am confident that fans will not be disappointed.

It must have been quite daunting for Villeneuve with Ridley Scott being executive producer but then again at least there was someone to give him the thumbs up!

The new film has the same tone of the original and although Vangelis is not involved in the musical score, they were in safe hands with the great Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch composing a haunting and atmospheric soundtrack.
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Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright) vs. Replicant Luv (Sylvia Hoeks)

The film also boasts some stunning visuals thanks to veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, Skyfall, No Country for Old Men and was nominated for his work on the remake of True Grit.)

Actor Edward James Olmos reprises his role as the mysterious Detective Gaff in a cameo role whose calling card in the original was leaving behind his origami animals.

Harrison Ford proves that he has still got star power and for me the film really came alive when K finally comes across Deckard. There is also an intense interrogation scene between Deckard and Wallace that shows Ford at his best.
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K and Deckard make a run for it.

Trivia Time: When director Villeneuve was casting the part of Niander Wallace, head of the corporation, his first choice was David Bowie but unfortunately he passed away before this could happen.

My only criticism of the film is that it is 2 hours 43 minutes which is 45 minutes longer than the original movie and there are moments in the first half that are quite slow.

Overall though, I don’t think you could better this as the sequel we all wanted.

Ryan Gosling’s finest performance.

4 out of 5 Stars

In cinemas now