“Blade Runner 2049” is overwhelming, as it was designed to be. There’s no point in making a sequel to one of history’s best sci-fi films unless it leaves its own mark.
But it’s not just the uniformly gorgeous visuals, restrained pacing or eerie, despotic sound design that gives this new “Blade Runner” its somber magnificence. The film, like a handful of others over the last 35 years, also smartly uses its parent as a jumping-off point, not a trailer hitch.
Most audiences didn’t think much of director Ridley Scott’s original “Blade Runner” when it was released in 1982, despite the fact that the movie — which starred Harrison Ford as a hard-boiled artificial-human (or replicant) hunter — has evolved into a cultural touchstone.
Now it sits with “Metropolis,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and others as one of our most prophetic sci-fi documents, a masterclass in visual storytelling and a dark window into the future, then depicted as 2019-era Los Angeles.
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