Blade Runner 2049

A few years ago, I was sitting in an academic team match held at my high school. It was down to the last few questions and the game was close. I sat at attention while the question was read. I let myself kind of zone out and listened for a key word or words that would spark the thought process that would lead me to the answer. It came pretty quickly. "Richard Deckard". They were asking for the actor who played the character. It had come up before in a game I was playing a game on my kindle. I hit the buzzer a little hard and looked right at the reader, fully confident in my answer of "Harrison Ford". I didn't know the character. I didn't know the movie. I had to ask my coach what movie it was after the match. By the next match, I had seen the first Blade Runner. My mom says that if the movie has Harrison Ford in it, it is pretty much guaranteed that I will watch it. And she isn't exactly wrong. That is how I found myself way too excited after seeing the first trailer for Blade Runner 2049.

I had been waiting months for this movie. That happens often when there is a movie I've heard about months in advance. I watched the trailer a few times and even got my parents to watch the first one with me. I love seeing a movie opening day (even though I really wouldn't go to a midnight showing unless it was something really good and there was a really good reason too like it was a red carpet premiere) and because of school, I've never really had the chance to go unless it in the summer. Fall break fell perfectly for me to go opening day to see Blade Runner 2049. The theater wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be, for an opening day at least.

This movie is nothing like I thought it would be. Nothing is what it seems. In the first Blade Runner, things are clear: replicants and humans can be told apart. Blade runners "retire" replicants and everything is pretty clear. In this movie, it is not as clear. Tyrell Corps has been taken over by Wallace Corps and replicants are extremely human-like. Blade runners are replicants programmed for the job. You can tell too because none of them have names, just numbers. The film follows one replicant, K, played by Ryan Gosling. Throughout the movie, different clues come to light that makes him wonder if he is a human or if he is a replicant with actual memory implants. He goes to look for Deckard to try and find answers. The answers come, but even they are not all that clear.

This movie is really good. I love how it seems to move quickly but in reality, it is just following a portion of K's life. I was a little disappointed that Harrison Ford didn't show up until later in the film because the movie references the first movie quite a bit but never really connects to it until everything starts to get crazy, which is when K seeks out Deckard. My favorite part is when K meets Deckard for the first time. There is a huge fight and it only ends when Deckard hears Elvis singing "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" in a music hall in the casino that he is living in in Las Vegas. It is funny and unexpected and kind of stops the movie for a bit before it moves on and picks up again.

My only question is who is a replicant and who isn't? It is never really clear who is and who isn't. When you first meet Wallace (Jared Leto), he talks about how he has created a new replicant for a new world. That little monologue makes it seem like everyone is a replicant and can really confuse the person watching this movie.

This is a really good movie and a good way to get a new group of people into the series. I only suggest that you watch the first one before seeing this one. It will make more sense that way.