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Dear mother of god…This day has been one hell of a roller coaster for me on a personal level (Berlin and the death of our beloved cat Zimba). However, I´m simply going to focus on the one and only positive thing that happened to me today (or yesterday, to be exact). Yes, I´m of course talking about the announcement trailer for Denis Villeneuve´s upcoming neo-noir science fiction movie “Blade Runner 2049”. Right of the bat, I didn´t even see that one coming. Sure, I´ve been hearing talks and rumors about a new Blade Runner movie for a very long time. Even so, the unveiling of “Blade Runner 2049” came as a very pleasant surprise I have to say. Especially since I´ve been waiting since forever for a new “Blade Runner” movie to happen (Ridley Scott´s “Blade Runner” movie was released back in 1982).

I´m quite sure that “Blade Runner 2049” will turn out just fine.

Furthermore, my appetite for Blade Runner has just grown stronger over the years. You see, I´ve been playing Westwood Studios action/adventure game “Blade Runner” quite a few times since its release. I have also been enjoying these books as well:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1) by Philip K. Dick
The Edge of Human (Blade Runner #2) by K.W. Jeter
Replicant Night (Blade Runner #3) by K.W. Jeter
Eye and Talon (Blade Runner #4) by K.W. Jeter

Yes, “Blade Runner 2049” will be released in cinemas on the 6th of October next year.

Well, I think you get the idea. So let´s focus on the announcement trailer for “Blade Runner 2049” instead shall we? Great! So here´s the story/plot for the movie:

“In 2017, the story continues. #BladeRunner 2049 – starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. — Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. #BladeRunner 2049, starring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, with Dave Bautista and Jared Leto” – Warner Bros. Pictures

A fun side note would be the following:
Initially, Denis Villeneuve was against the concept of a sequel to Blade Runner (1982), as he felt it could violate the original. But after reading the script, which he and Harrison Ford have described as “one of the best” they have ever read, he committed to the project, stating that Ford was already involved at that point: “To be very honest with you, Harrison was part of the project before I arrived. He was attached to it right from the start with Ridley [Scott]. I met him and he’s honestly one of the nicest human beings I’ve met and is one of my favorite actors of all time, so for me it’s a lot of pleasure.” – ImdB

In “Blade Runner 2049” Harrison Ford is back again as Rick Deckard.

Other than that, “Blade Runner 2049” has a really strong and talented actor lineup:

Ryan Gosling as LAPD Officer K
Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard
Robin Wright
Dave Bautista
Ana de Armas
Sylvia Hoeks
Carla Juri
Mackenzie Davis
Barkhad Abdi
David Dastmalchian
Hiam Abbass
Lennie James
Jared Leto

And since “Blade Runner 2049” is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario, Enemy, with many others), I really feel like the movie is in safe hands (Villeneuve is pretty much said to be new Stanley Kubrick). Sure, some people might argue that it would have been better if Ridley Scott had directed the movie (Scott has done the story for “Blade Runner 2049” though). However, one must keep in mind that sometimes it´s actually a good call to let someone else direct the sequel (that formula worked pretty great for the first two movies of Alien, for example). As it could give a fresh breath of air into the concept, and that´s exactly the vibes that I felt from the “Blade Runner 2049” announcement trailer (something old mixed with something new).

Ryan Gosling plays the role as the LAPD Officer K.

In the matter of fact, I think the transition from the 1982 “Blade Runner” to the 2017 “Blade Runner 2049” movie went rather smoothly. I mean, in a way it really felt like you just turned the page from the old movie to the new one (I just wish that it wouldn´t have taken 35 years to turn that bloody page). Because in the trailer, we get to see a very similar cyberpunk/neo-noir/sci-fi setting to the one that we saw in the first movie, and that tone was set almost immediately in “Blade Runner 2049” (do you remember the intro from Ridley Scott´s “Blade Runner”?, that´s the tone that I´m talking about). Furthermore, do you remember what I said about “the old” and the “new”? Well, Harrison Ford is back again as Rick Deckard, and Ryan Gosling (LAPD Officer K, aka “the new Blade Runner”) is out to find him. Because in “Blade Runner 2049” Deckard has been missing for 30 years (Deckard went missing after the events of the first movie), and K (Ryan Gosling) has just found out about an long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos (that´s the main reason behind why K has gone looking for Deckard).

In my book, this picture is as much “Blade Runner” as a picture possibly could get.

And that´s pretty much where the “Blade Runner 2049” trailer left us. Well, almost, because we did indeed get to see K´s discovery of Deckard (a discovery which ended up with K having Deckard pointing a gun at him). I honestly thought that the trailer would end during that scene, but just before the trailer ended we got this rather memorable quote by Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford:

Rick Deckard:
I had your job once – I was good at it.

K:
Things were simpler then.

You know, all in all. I like what I´ve seen from “Blade Runner 2049”. As the trailer gave me more positive vibes than negative ones. I´m of course aware that not everyone may share the same opinion as I do. Even so, I was still quite surprised to see how negative some people were over the “Blade Runner 2049” trailer. Then again, I have no idea if they are hardcore Blade Runner fans or people who have never heard of Blade runner before. Nevertheless, I thought that the trailer was just fine (in my opinion). So, yes, I´m most definitely going to watch “Blade Runner 2049” on the release day next year (I hope to see the movie together with my family, my dad is a long-time “Blade Runner” fan just like me).

And with that said, what´s your take on “Blade Runner 2049”? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Source:
imdb

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.