more than a sequel

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2018)

If you have not seen 'Blade Runner 2019' yet, but you plan to see it soon, I have a friendly advice. The film is a continuation of 'Blade Runner' made in1982, and even if the story is not necessarily an extension of the original film, the theme and philosophy of the films are linked, and many of the motivations of the characters as well as the social ambiance of the future imagined in the film can be more easily understood if you first see or review the first movie, or at least read or reread the summary. The dystopian world imagined by novelist Philip K. Dick and director Ridley Scott in the original film, as well as the theme of robots with human characteristics (called "replicants" in the novel and films) that are at the border between tools endowed with what we call artificial intelligence and equal beings to men, capable of feelings and endowed with what some call 'soul' have become in the decades that passed since a familiar presence in sci-fi cinema, and Ridley Scott's film is considered a 'cult' film. The landscape of the 'retro' style of the future has become a visual reference for many of the distant and / or apocalyptic films that followed, and Vangelis' music adds to the 'noir' sensation of action in the future.
'Blade Runner 2049' begins with a text screen (something that I personally am not enthusiastic about in films) describing the events that took place between 2019 (the year when the first film was taking place) and the 2049's 'contemporaneity'. A black-out phenomenon due to an unspecified event (ecological catastrophe? atomic explosion?) produced a high-intensity electromagnetic pulse ('EMP') destroying all electronic devices and memories of mankind. Only what was recorded on paper - books, press, archives - survived. The possibility of such an event is as real as it may be, it can also be caused by high intensity solar rashes, and various emergency scenarios take it into consideration. The industrial concern that produced the replicas had been ruined only to be replaced by another, bigger, stronger, worse, a monopoly of slave robots. The main difference to the world in 2019 is that in 2049 the replicas do not work on distant planets, but they are largely integrated into human society, performing almost all roles and practicing all the crafts. The main character of the movie, 'K' (yes, indeed - 'K' as Kafka) is such a replicant, a policeman at the LAPD. The replicants are apparently fully integrated, they seem to be peers, and they are hard to distinguish, but they are not equal in rights, being merely subordinate and generally disciplined executors of human orders. Physically they seem to be parity with people - they eat and drink, they get tired and sleep, they have sex, they get older, and the blood flows when they get injured. They even die, except they do not give birth and they're not born. Only the ability to be born and to give birth to create life like humans do seems to be lacking.
The movie's intrigue triggers when 'K' (played by the excellent Ryan Gosling, one of Hollywood's most talented younger actors) over a case involving an oddity in rgw order of things, starts to ask more questions than the norm , begins to doubt. His questions would upset the social hierarchy that makes replicants simple executors of human orders, and the official version of history on which this hierarchy is based. The order to leave the investigation and to forget the anomalies - which, of course, will be ignored - sends a direct hint to totalitarian regimes, and not only to them, in which a single version of 'truth' is accepted, and in which research of alternative answers becomes a crime. During his investigation, 'K' will face not only the forces of the all-powerful corporation that dominate the economy and public order of the planet, but also secrets related to his own origin and past, revealing traces of his own identity.
The disturbing questions about the essence of human nature and the boundaries between humanity as we know it and understand it today, and what it can (some would say it would be) to become over a long time are a recurring theme of the anticipation literature from the first robot stories of Capek, or the novels and stories of Asimov, to films or television productions such as the excellent Swedish series 'Real People' ('Äkta människor'). The spectacular advances in synthetic chemistry, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence make these questions not only topics of the future, but also closer issues related to the present or the near future. Self-learning ability combined with emotion synthesis and emulation, implemented on platforms with speeds and computing power and with much higher reliability than human minds and human bodies, make the robots a new species that begins to compete with humans to control the resources of the planet. 'Blade Runner 2049' describes a possible world where autonomous robots are part of the social hierarchy and have also acquired many of the characteristics that make up the human personality and the specific differences between the different individuals belonging to the species. What's left behind as a barrier that separates mankind from the world of robots? Dilemmas? "It's not a big deal, do not envy us for that" says in the film a human character to the hero belonging to the world of robots. Ability to love? This is not even certain in the world created in 'Blade Runner 2049' where people and robots seem to share 'resources' that allow sexual gratification, and where differences between humans and robots, or between all of them and virtual embodiments like holograms are not clear or important. The ability to give birth, to create life from your own body? This last barrier may be the real one, but you will have to see the movie to see how the issue is addressed, whatever I would say here would be too much of a 'spoiler'.
The project was designed and prepared by Ridley Scott for many years, and the director intended for a while to direct the sequel. He was finally pleased with the role of producer and entrusted the direction of French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, author of several high quality and successful action films such as 'Sicario' and 'Arrival'. The combination of the action film with the intelligent science-fantasy intrigue, which raises issues not only about the evolution of mankind but also about where the directions for the future are drawn, works in the 'Blade Runner 2019' almost as well as in the original film . Ryan Gosling realizes a formidable acting performance in the lead role. In the second part of the film, Harrison Ford shows up as the original 'Blade Runner', the one who had good reasons to disappear from the world of the future between 2019 and 2049. The visual world continues extends what I saw 36 years ago with creative and executed capabilities enhanced by digital graphics. Even if the element of surprise is diminished, and if the world of the future created in the film is a continuation and amplification of the style and atmosphere of the original film, 'Blade Runner 2049' offers plenty of reasons for the satisfaction of filmmakers, not just fans science fiction, questions and raises current issues that deserve in-depth and interesting discussions. If you have not already seen it, I recommend it.