Robotics and artificial intelligence may have come a long way since 1982, but we are still far from the levels depicted in Blade Runner.Blade Runner 2049 aims to get us a little closer to that.
Plot Summary:
Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who’s been missing for 30 years.
The movie has a pretty start studded cast:
- Ryan Gosling as LAPD Officer K
- Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard
- Ana de Armas as Joi
- Mackenzie Davis
- Sylvia Hoeks
- Lennie James
- Carla Juri
- Robin Wright
- Dave Bautista
- Jared Leto
- Edward James Olmos
- Barkhad Abdi
- Hiam Abbass
- David Dastmalchian
As the title suggests, the film takes place in the year 2049 — 30 years after the events of the first film. Director Ridley Scott delivered a grimy 2019 of an Earth occupied mostly by the poor, since the rich were shipped off to luxury colonies in space. The planet also contains humanoid robots equipped with advanced artificial intelligence at least as capable as actual human intelligence
How Does it Relate to the Original?
Plot points are scarce but that makes it even more exciting. What we do know is that the film is set in 2049, 30 years after the original took place, with Gosling’s Officer K unearthing something shady that could bring about the end of humanity. He finds Ford’s Deckard, a blade runner who has been hiding out that whole time, and that’s it.
Nothing else has been revealed, however the first full trailer did bring to light a few things: the looming Tyrell Corporation building at the beginning; Jared Leto creating replicants while eerily stating “Every civilisation was built off the back of a disposable work force – but I can only make so many,” suggesting he will be the film’s villain; replicants being held in glass boxes for the first time; two new and as yet unnamed characters played by Mackenzie Davis and Dave Bautista; Robin Wright as Officer K’s boss; and replicant and K’s love interest Joi, played by Ana de Armas, suggesting a possible parallel story with the original. Another nod to the first film which has fans in a frenzy is when Gosling’s K says to Ford’s Deckard “I have some questions,” teasing that the sequel might finally answer one of the original’s lingering mysteries.
But that’s all we really know. The book that the original is loosely based on, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has a few official sequels, however it’s important to note they were written by Dick’s friend K. W. Jeter, and released long after the original book and over a decade after the movie. It’s unclear if Blade Runner 2049 will include elements from the sequels, which continue the story of Rick Deckard.
New and Returning Cast & Crew
Harrison Ford is reprising his role as Rick Deckard alongside Ryan Gosling’s younger Officer K. Besides Deckard, the only other returning character (that we know) is Edward James Olmos’ Gaff, while a host of new names are on board including Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista and Mackenzie Davis.
On the crew side of things, Villeneuve takes over directing duties from Ridley Scott, who is on board as a producer, meaning that things won’t stray too far off course, but we won’t end up in a George Lucas scenario either (thankfully). The one role we are happy is staying the same (besides Ford’s) is that writer Hampton Fancher is back, this time partnering with Michael Green, whose credits include Alien: Covenant, Logan, and the upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Suffice to say, things are already looking good.