'Blade Runner 2049' Trailer Breakdown: Here's What You May've Missed
The Blade Runner 2049 trailer arrived earlier today and it is a glorious thing. Filled with stunning and beautiful moments, the film being advertised here certainly looks like a worthy successor to 1982's Blade Runner, which is nothing short of a masterpiece. And since there's so much going on here, there's only one thing to do – we must go through the whole thing frame-by-frame.
While we aren't privy to any spoilers (we know nothing about this film), consider this a warning: we may accidentally spoil key plot points will mulling over this trailer.
Welcome back to Los Angeles. 30 years have passed since the events of the first movie (which was set in the far-flung future of 2019), but the skyline is still recognizable. And still smoggy and rain soaked and filled with buildings that look like fortresses emerging from decay. This look inspired countless other science fiction movies, but to the credit of director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins, it doesn't look stale in any way through this trailer.
At the time of the original Blade Runner's release, the vision of a future city filled with recognizable logos was still a fresh concept. While Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Spacey Odyssey broke ground by inserting modern company names into his film (set in the far-flung future of 2001), Ridley Scott ran with it, filling his future Los Angeles with massive advertisements that dwarfed their surroundings. And since the first movie came out in the early '80s, Blade Runner was set in 2019 where Atari was still very much a thing...and despite all that has transpired in the real world, Blade Runner 2049 also takes place in a future where Atari is powerful enough to advertise itself alongside mammoth skyscrapers. This is the first indication in this trailer that this movie doesn't care about creating a realistic future as much as it intends to extend the specific world introduced in the first film.
While the streets of Los Angeles are grimy and filthy and bathed in neon, the interiors of the buildings belonging to the wealthy and the powerful and as austere and menacing as ever. As we will soon see, this building seems to house a company that creates replicants (robots who look like humans, live a very short lifespan, and exist to take on manual labor and other jobs people do not want). Rather appropriately, this looks like a temple – this a space built for gods, not for men.
And here we find Ryan Gosling's Agent K escorted down a lengthy stairwell, past display cases filled with replicant bodies. These bodies appear to be templates of sorts, lacking the details needed to sell them as human beings. It's an upsetting image – they're close enough to human to look real at a glance but treated as mere props for a hallway.
Speaking of creepy, the trailer offers a look at what seems to be the "birth" of a replicant. It's a genuinely upsetting image, with the plastic tube acting like an all-too-clinical birth canal. The room's presentation, with its high ceilings and dramatic lighting, suggest that the person behind its design sees something almost holy in their work.
Speaking of genuinely upsetting images, here is Jared Leto. We don't know much about his character (reportedly named Wallace), but he seems to be in charge around here. Despite his simple clothing, he's clearly a man of the future – note the glowing implant in the side of his neck. His eyes are glassy, suggesting that he's either blind or has augmented them in some way. Can we safely assume that he's the villain here?
"Happy birthday." And now, our fourth creepy image in a row! While Leto's character is offering comfort to his creation in this shot, his voice-over narration tells a different story: "Every civilization was built was built off the back of a disposable workforce."
And now we're back outside in the gray and rainy Los Angeles. While this giant structure doesn't look like the police station seen in the 1982 original...
...the trailer seemingly implies that this is where Officer K is taking his orders. So maybe the LAPD upgraded things in the past few decades? Anyway, that's Robin Wright going on about there being "an order to things" and talking about walls and generally sounding like she's up to no good. This trailer will go on to imply that Officer K knows far less than he thinks he does and you just know that Wright is probably not giving him a complete picture.
Here's a good look at Officer K's pistol, which is smaller and more streamlined than the bulky weapon wielded by Rick Deckard in the original movie. That gun has gone on to become a favorite amongst movie prop replica aficionados. Will this one have a similar lifespan amongst uber-nerd collectors?
Lit by moonlight and neon, Officer K looks like he's been put through the grinder by someone. Whether intentional or not, this shot echoes the third act of the original movie, which featured Deckard getting beaten to a pulp by a series of opponents. The best movie stars are those who make head and facial wounds look good.
The past 30 years have also seen Los Angeles' advertising get a significant makeover. Holograms invade the streets and tower over pedestrians, amazing images that don't even receive a second glance from the jaded masses. The potential for world building here is astonishing.
While the world of Blade Runner 2049 is rainy and gray, it's also not without color. Take this gorgeous rooftop shot, where green, red, and white neon bounce off one another, lending an artificial life to a dreary night. This movie looks spectacular.
Here's Cuban actress Ana de Armas as Joi, another character we know very little about. However, the fact that she's meeting with an LAPD Blade Runner on the roof in the middle of the rain certainly implies that things aren't going well in her life. Is it possible that she's a replicant? And if so, her engaging in a romantic moment with Officer K suggests a role similar to Sean Young's character in the original movie.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Las Vegas. While Los Angeles has boomed into a monolithic dystopia, it looks like the once popular tourist destination has crumbled. However, Officer K has business here: he has to find Rick Deckard, who has been missing for 30 years. And for whatever reason, he's hiding out here.
As you'd expect, a city like Las Vegas, home to all kinds of wild imagery, strange architecture, and insane statues, is a gift to a filmmaker like Villeneuve. The compositions on display here are breathtaking and bizarre. Will the movie explain what happened here or will it just assume that it never has to be said because the characters themselves already know? I think I'd prefer the latter.
And here's where Deckard has been hiding out: an old hotel that, while dirty and dusty, seems to be doing a perfectly fine job of not crumbling.
Deckard apparently doesn't want to be found. Men seeking company from others do not install tripwires in their hallways. Thankfully, Officer K's training allows him to step right over the trap.
And here's Deckard himself. As seen in the first trailer, he's given up on that badass coat he wore throughout the original movie (Gosling seems to own the fashion choices in this film) and has gone full slob. Will he wear anything other than a gray t-shirt in this movie? And did Harrison Ford bring his own shirt to set and insist on wearing it because he was grumpy and didn't want to bother with a futuristic costume? I hope so.
Look, I'm not going to get over seeing the flying cars (otherwise known as "spinners") outside of Los Angeles. While the awful original ending of Blade Runner, discarded in all of Scott's later edits, sees Ford flying his vehicle outside of L.A., this seems to be our first proper canonical look at a spinner operating away from an urban environment.
Nothing to add here beyond "This image is the Blade Runner aesthetic in a nutshell: flying cars and and cool coats and neon." I wish they could bottle this screenshot so I could rub it on my skin every single day.
We now know this much: at some point, Deckard puts on a jacket. Oh, and he received a tough-looking head wound. Oh, and he finds himself at some kind of building far enough away from Los Angeles that it's snowing. Could this be wear the spinner was flying a few images ago?
The first Blade Runner conceived its future during the early '80s, and Blade Runner 2049 is taking that aesthetic and running with it. This may take place decades from now, the fashions on display are very much an extension on what looked kind of cool in 1982. It's a wonderful choice that allows this film to instantly feel at one with the first movie. And unless my eyes deceive me, that's The Martian star MacKenzie Davis rocking that outfit.
What's this? Numbers carved into a rock? 6, 10, 21? Or is that 6/10/21? If it's a date, that's about two years after the events of the first movie. I'm just spitballing here, but maybe we're looking at a grave. Specifically, maybe we're looking at the grave of Rachael, Sean Young's replicant character from the first movie.
Here's Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks. We don't know much about her character...except that she appears to work for Jared Leto and may be the lead muscle of the film, the character who shows up to give Officer K a really hard time. Could she also be a replicant? After all, why have a human henchperson when you could have a robotic one?
Anyway, here's Officer K opening fire in the middle of the rain...
And here's Hoeks returning fire from inside her car. What is Officer K trying to accomplish here? What is she protecting? Another shot in the trailer may give us a hint...
While the visual effects in the original Blade Runner remain spectacular today, modern tech allows for shots like this, where the spinners are able to do everything we've always wanted flying cars to do in science fiction movies.
"They know you're here." It's still not clear why Officer K needs to track down Deckard, but he does bring hell down on the former blade runner's isolated existence. Whether the attackers are here to capture or kill Deckard or Officer K remains unknown.
However, two things are made clear very quickly. First of all, the men who follow Officer K to Deckard's hotel are clearly replicants, as they can smash through thick stone walls with ease. But more importantly, it looks like lonely 'ol Deckard has a little doggie buddy! Aww.
And then they make things personal: they blow up Deckard's car. Big mistake.
According to our own Peter Sciretta (who heard as much at CinemaCon), this nightclub scene takes place in Las Vegas. But why is there a nightclub performance going on in a city that seems to be completely abandoned?
Well, it could be because it's a holographic show, still playing to an empty room years after the tourists stopped coming. At least, that seems to be the case since the figures on stage literally flicker away as the lights chance.
We don't know who Guardians of the Galaxy and Spectre star Dave Bautista is playing in this movie, but he does have tiny round glasses, so you know that he's apparently A Smart Guy.
But don't let the spectacles fool you. He's still a hulking brute of a man who picks up Officer K...
...and shoves him right through a wall.
In a trailer filled with mesmerizing shots, this may be one of the best. That appears to be Officer K on the catwalk, but, more importantly, that giant holographic advertisement is Ana de Armas' Joi. Is it possible that she's a celebrity figurehead and a replicant in need of K's assistance?
Why do I have a gut feeling that burning shack is the building where Officer K fought Dave Bautista's mysterious character? And if I'm right, we now know the outcome of that particular fight.
Here's another look at that Las Vegas nightclub seen earlier. The show seems to be pretty typical of the town we know: gaudy, colorful, and full of women in outrageous outfits.
It's not clear who the woman in the foreground is, but that figure in the door is undeniably Officer K. However, the real focus here should be on the surroundings. They seem to be in a holographic room, and the way that the curvature of the space around the door breaks the illusion reminds me of the Holodecks from Star Trek.
Remember that shot where Officer K and Sylvia Hoeks were exchanging gunfire in the rain? It looks like we may know why: she has Rick Deckard in her spinner. But what does she (or rather, her employers) want with him?
Let's take one more visit to the nightclub, where we can now see Officer K and Deckard having...a disagreement. Okay, so Deckard is punching his new acquaintance in the face. What is going on between these two? What could Officer K have revealed to get this kind of reaction?
And now we're back in Deckard's hotel hideout, where Officer K is opening fire on an unseen opponent (presumably the men we saw crash through the wall earlier). While replicants are stronger than humans, a few well-placed shots will take them down the straightaway.
"Your story isn't over yet. There's still a page left." Those lines, spoken by Joi, accompany this shot of a book with pages torn out. We then pan up...
...and find Officer K looking like he's just discovered some appalling news. Maybe even "Oh My God I'm Actually A Replicant" news. We'll find out for sure when Blade Runner 2049 opens on October 6, 2017.