But I can tell you that his serial number is KD6.3-7 and that he goes by “K” for short. Obviously, I can’t tell you whether he is a replicant or not. So it would only be natural for filmgoers to wonder the same about Gosling’s character, who is the new movie’s protagonist and also a Blade Runner. One of the central enigmas of Blade Runner-clarified over several cuts and recuts by the director, Ridley Scott-was whether Ford’s Deckard might be a replicant himself. It is only the older models, still hiding in the cracks of society, that are tracked down by Blade Runners and destroyed.Įmily in Paris Is the Last Guilty Pleasure Spencer Kornhaber Happily, by the AD 2049 of the new film, things have changed for the better, with newer-model replicants now productively integrated into the economy.

“Blade Runners”-of whom Harrison Ford’s character, Rick Deckard, was one-were the police sent out to find and terminate rogue replicants who’d returned home. Replicants, as fans of that movie will recall, were artificial persons indistinguishable from human beings except by means of a complex psycho-behavioral test called the “Voight-Kampff.” Intended for dangerous duties on distant planets, replicants were forbidden on Earth. The first Blade Runner took place in a rain-soaked, dystopian 2019, which makes for a slightly uneasy viewing experience in rain-soaked, dystopian 2017. I’m not sure precisely what else I’m supposed to say about it, as the filmmakers have requested that a very specific list of facts about the movie not be shared, including which characters are and are not “replicants.” (This is true even of characters who are introduced as replicants and for whom replicant-hood is their distinguishing characteristic.)

Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi game-changer Blade Runner, and it stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford.

Blade runner 2049 review