Nothing short of fantastic

Johnson Thomas

Ryan Gosling is not exactly an action star, so his choice as K, the Blade Runner, in this sequel of the iconic Philip K Dick novel-cinema adaptation may not seem apt at first. But then Villeneuve’s vision for the future of civilisation has extended far beyond what Ridley Scott imagined in the original. 

Thematically though, both films work in continuum even though the treatment is distinctively different. Villeneuve delves deeper into the universe left behind by the original, and it’s both deeply philosophical and intellectually challenging. This is no reboot; this is in fact an expansion of a legacy which has its own life and enrichment. 

This film reveals its secrets, themes and connections in a systematic spiral of contemplative allegory. Thirty-five years after ‘Blade Runner’ first hit the screens, a new order is being re-established. The legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins along with the crack effects team and Villeneuve takes us to Los Angeles, 2049. The replicant-destroying Blade Runner personified here by K (Ryan Gosling) is on duty tracking down old replicants, who have gone into hiding, still existing way beyond their use-by date.  

The film opens with Officer K tracking down a Replicant (Dave Bautista), who is living the peaceful life of a farmer. His subsequent death though, stirs up a hornet’s nest. K finds evidence of a secreted past, which eventually links to that of his own while taking us on an intensely engaging journey that sails through the very history of replicants, while illuminating the power of memory, and what it means to be a human being, along the way.  

Its 163 minutes of stylishly refined cinematic ideation. From the opening aerial shots itself, we gleam a sense of what is to follow- a territory that is both familiar yet schematically different. K’s job is to patrol the boundaries, and ensure the humans and the replicants don’t cross over. But as boundaries go, they are porous. K has his own AI created girlfriend Joi (Ana de Armas), who he comes home to. And she has feelings too - a sort of mirroring of the human equivalent. The speculated ideas and themes here are quite fascinating no doubt - and so are the tech specs, cinematography, sound design, art direction, editing, background score, special effects and direction are nothing short of fantastic. The performances are also intensely enabling. And in Imax 3D, it’s altogether too special to ignore.