Denis Villeneuve’s visual feast is perfect for movie lovers – whether you’re a fan of the original or not
Blade Runner 2049, available from Friday 15 June in Sky Cinema on demand. Cert 15. Also available in HD
As sequels go, Blade Runner 2049 was a very long time coming. Thirty-five years after director Ridley Scott changed the way we look at the future with Blade Runner, Canadian film-maker Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival) brought us a follow-up that proved one of the most sumptuous and gobsmacking visual experiences of the past few years.
Set 30 years after the first film, it picks up on a world even more battered and hellish than that of the original’s android-hunting Blade Runner, Deckard (Harrison Ford). Now the Blade Runners are androids themselves, such as Agent K (La La Land’s Ryan Gosling), who is tasked with solving the mystery of a buried box of android remains, while dealing with his own existential anxieties and his feelings for his holographic companion Joi (Cuban newcomer Ana de Armas).
While the big themes run deep and the action is thrilling, it’s the gloriously epic presentation of K’s world that resonates most. From shimmering neon cityscapes, to a vast junkyard wilderness and the shattered, radiation-drenched wasteland of a future Las Vegas, there’s no limit to the imagination on display here. And it’s all thanks to genius British cinematographer Roger Deakins – who won a well-deserved Oscar for his work.
Yes, it took 35 years for the sequel to arrive. But it was definitely worth the wait.
Speaking of waiting, if you just can’t contain yourself until Blade Runner 2049 arrives on Sky Cinema on 15 June, watch our fantastic video revealing ten things you (probably) didn’t know about the film…
Blade Runner 2049, available from Friday 15 June in Sky Cinema on demand. Cert 15. Also available in HD
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