And so, 35 years later, the much anticipated sequel titled “Blade Runner 2049” has been released. Set only 30 years into the future, this new Denis Villeneuve-directed film deals with the next generation of Blade Runners, a more docile type of artificially law enforcers, assigned with getting rid of the few remaining, older models. These new “replicants” are (still inexplicably) made to be indistinguishable from human beings in the same fashion than in the prior movie. The story follows Ryan Gosling's K during a mission where he accidentally makes a discovery that will threaten this society’s status quo. Now, if replicants really do have the ability to procreate (something a little too far-fetched, even for a movie like this), how would this affect a society where humans and replicants are so similar? “Blade Runner 2049” does not go into great detail about this predicament as this mostly represents the movie’s “macguffin” of sorts, a way to set the events in motion and the excuse for the characters to chase after each other.

“Blade Runner 2049” is clearly one of those “if you like the first one then you’ll definitely like the next” movies as it takes the exact same approach as its predecessor, including a very Vangelis-like score, without which the resulting visual impact here would be unimaginable. Had I watched it without knowing better I would have surely assumed it was directed by (now) producer Ridley Scott as well, with “Blade Runner 2049” taking most of its production design cues from Scott’s earlier movie. And even though Villenueve uses them as his main inspiration, “Blade Runner 2049” is a triumph of art design in its own right, with seamless special effects and images that represent works of art by themselves. At this point in time, I just can’t imagine how the Academy will avoid giving Roger Deakins his long overdue Oscar this time around.

The Los Angeles of “Blade Runner 2049” is every bit as fascinating as that in the original. "Blade Runner" influenced later futuristic films that followed by having just about every one of them come up with their own technological innovations for mass advertising via giant animated signs. Think of those in the highways of “Minority Report," in the earth deleted scenes of “Avatar” and even the “Jaws 19” 3D marquee from "Back to the Future II." Still, after watching “Blade Runner 2049” it’s safe to say that the astounding, gigantic hologram of K’s girlfriend by the side of a bridge blows all of these other examples right out of the water. Villeneuve also has some fun by including a small sample of the long defunct Pan Am airline as homage to one of the most memorable visuals from the earlier entry. “Blade Runner 2049” is also the latest in a long line of recent movies to follow its predecessor in opening with the same close-up shot of an eye with its pupil adapting to the light, (think of “Minority Report," “Rise of the Planet of the Apes," “Avatar," “Rush” and even as recently as Ridley’s own “Alien Covenant”). This image is not to be confused with the not-as-extreme shot of both staring eyes that was likely started by Martin Scorsese in “Taxi Driver” and later brought back in several of his following movies.

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