In the run-up to the Fall/Winter season at the movies, no other big-studio production has more promise than Blade Runner 2049. That the movie is headlined by Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford eases the fact that Jared Leto plays a major role but the real draw as of this moment is Denis Villeneuve's direction and visionary style.
After Arrival, one of 2016's biggest sleeper hits, Villeneuve gained a certain level of prowess that evaded him with 2015's Sicario and 2013's Prisoners, and Blade Runner 2049 is the biggest project he's taken on. And that's not even bringing up the fact that it's the sequel to freaking Blade Runner, one of the most beloved and mythologized science-fiction movies ever made. There's reason to be nervous about how all of this will play out but from the images, trailers, and early buzz that we've been given thus far, Villeneuve has seemingly done justice to a classic while also making a movie of his very own.
The latest clip from the movie, which you can take a look at below, does not have the colorful oomph that energizes much of the trailers but it speaks to Villeneuve's attention to visual detail and texture. Gosling's mysterious Officer K is searching for clues in an area populated by homeless children who work in open-air sweatshops, looked over by a mad stranger, played by The Walking Dead's Lennie James. K seems to be looking for a particular kid, but it's unclear how that will fit into his war against Leto's malevolent futurist, if at all.
In other instances, I'd want my bearings clearly laid out in a movie clip but in this case, it's best that the clip underlines more the look and atmosphere of Villeneuve's movie, and leaves the surprises of the story for October 6th, when we'll all get a full gander at Blade Runner 2049.
Here's the new clip from Blade Runner 2049:
Here's the official synopsis for Blade Runner 2049:
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.
