Blade Runner 2049 Review

Set 30 years after the original, Ryan Gosling’s Officer Kay – a blade runner - unearths a secret that, if exposed, will change the world and put replicants ahead of humans as the dominant species, so his only hope is to locate ex-blade runner Office Deckard (Harrison Ford) before it’s too late.

Unlike its predecessor, Blade Runner 2049 goes beyond the confines of its claustrophobic, rain-drenched, neon-lit cityscape, exploring the world outside from barren wastelands to organic farms, but even in its vast bleakness there’s a certain richness and beauty.

The film also unintentionally highlights a stark contrast with the original, proving to be far more human, and leaves you wondering whether the 1982 film – which lacked any real emotion or heart, save for Rutger Hauer’s closing line - is a replicant or not itself.

Here, humanity is the found in the unlikeliest places...

Original creator Ridley Scott surrenders (thankfully, due to recent franchise-killers Prometheus and Alien: Covenant) directorial duties to Arrival’s Denis Villeneuve, while composer Hans Zimmer engineers a score that’s haunting, thoughtful, and timelessly human.

Like War for the Planet of the Apes, not only is Blade Runner 2049 one of the greatest pieces of science fiction in recent memory, it's also one of the most human films of the year. The strange thing is that neither one includes humans at its core…

For my full audio review which was aired on Swindon 105.5, click here.