This belated sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner is that rarity – a worthy follow-up to the original. In this new film, 'K' (Ryan Gosling) is a blade runner – an agent who tracks down and terminates disobedient replicants. Replicants are artificial people created mostly for slave labor but occasionally they begin to have independent thoughts and feelings. 'K', himself, is actually a newer model replicant, and he is on the trail of a child possibly born from a replicant. The key to the mystery is to locate former blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who had disappeared some 30 years ago.
Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario) benefits from having a story by (based on characters from the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Phillip K. Dick) and the screenplay co-written by one of the first movie's writers, Hampton Fancher. This definitely creates a consistency between the two films. Blade Runner 2049 skillfully expands upon ideas from the original, both in story and visual concepts.
What keeps 2049 from absolute brilliance is over length. Like the original, it is slow moving and meditative, but there is no reason for this film to be nearly three-hours long. As a whole, though, it's a satisfying continuation of Blade Runner.
