Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

In the world of Blade Runner, it has been almost 30 years since Roy (Rutger Hauer) gave his famous dying speech: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

It's hard to believe but in our world 35 years have passed since Blade Runner appeared in 1982. Ridley Scott, who directed the original, is now producing, but Blade Runner 2049 is in good hands. It is directed by Denis Villeneuve who is responsible for last year's wonderful Arrival.

It is now 2049 and some things have changed and some things haven't. It is still raining, and there are still Replicants and Blade Runners trying to retire them. Most of the characters in Blade Runner were dead by the end of the movie, so only two actors reprise their roles, Harrison Ford as Deckard and a cameo by Edward James Olmos as Gaff. No spoilers but there is some CGI magic also. You may be wondering what happened to Rachael (Sean Young)? You'll have to watch Blade Runner 2049 to find out.

The new Blade Runner is K (Ryan Gosling) and his lieutenant is played by Robin Wright. Tyrell Corporation has been taken over by Wallace Corporation, and Mr. Wallace (Jared Leto) is even creepier than Mr. Tyrell. His assistant/bodyguard is a new model Replicant (Sylvia Hoeks) who is basically a female Roy Batty. While tracking down a runaway Replicant (Dave Bautista, Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy), K uncovers a mystery that leads slowly and inexorably back to the question of what happened to Rachael and Deckard (still played admirably by Harrison Ford). As in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ford gets to play the same character 30 years later without needing any makeup. What will Ford do next? You guessed it, Indiana Jones.

Anyway, not much has changed in three decades except that the Ads are now holographs and the Replicants don't have expiry dates. There are some nice paeans to the first film but with a few curveballs thrown in. Mackenzie Davis (Mindy Park in The Martian) is styled to look just like Daryl Hannah's Replicant in the original, but she is human. And we know from the start that Gosling isn't human, he's a Replicant. No word on what Ford is. He seems human to me.

The casting is very nice. Gosling is perfect for the world weary Blade Runner who wants to quit and, of course, wants to be human. He practices with his beautiful, Siri-esque girlfriend (Ana de Armas). Robin Wright plays another strong role as Gosling's boss, following right after her parts in House of Cards and Wonder Woman. Jared Leto is creepy, but that's not a stretch for him. Hoeks' Replicant is beautiful and scary. Ford is great as always.

The first best thing about the new film, besides the fact that it is still pouring rain, is the very successful re-creation of the world of Blade Runner. It is as atmospheric as the original. Happily, Villeneuve does not try and make Blade Runner into Jason Bourne. I loved the leisurely pace of the movie which slowly ramps up the tension, although I did begin to wonder whether Ford had been edited out. But it turns out that Deckard has just been hiding in a very interesting place with lots of whisky for 30 years. The movie is pretty long at 163 minutes but it didn't drag for me. I really liked it, especially considering that Blade Runner is one of those movies that shouldn't have remakes or sequels. The original Blade Runner was not a hit at the box office or with the critics, but is now considered iconic and is much copied. Blade Runner 2049 is a hit among the critics but is also struggling at the box office. So go see it. It is a good film to see on the big screen.