5 REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR BLADE RUNNER 2

The incredibly influential and resolutely enduring Sci-Fi classic Blade Runner has grafted for it’s reputation. Abused by many critics, including a vicious mauling from the highly respected Pauline Kael, the movie managed just $6 Million during it’s opening weekend back in 1982.

A misguided promotional campaign and a studio meddled final cut gave it no chance of hoovering up any box office crumbs that escaped the record breaking grasp of E.T.’s spindly fingers.

Yet the film once dubbed “Blade Crawler” by the Los Angeles Times possesses a timeless aesthetic that has amassed a huge cult following through home media and it’s numerous boilings in the cinematic percolator.

To gauge the fanaticism surrounding this dark and brooding slice of Neo-noir consider Deckard’s ‘Detective Special’ firearm that sold for $270,000 in 2009 and the vid-phon prop that recently went for $34,314.

Below are 5 reasons to be going (Roy) batty for THE science fiction sequel of 2016 that according to the NME will carry the words Androids Dream somewhere in it’s title and revolve around a quest to find Rick Deckard.

1 ] The producer (Ridley scott) :

Ridley Scott has matured into a bracingly smart film maker since helming the original and nobody else does grown up science fiction cinema quite like him. Prometheus showed he could revisit bygone triumphs with maximum poise and minimum pretention.

Current directorial release The Martian is as entertaining as it is epic and has opened to glowing reviews from both critics and audiences alike highlighting his aptitude for balancing artistry with economics.

Scott will be single minded in his vision and refuses to be chained to the fanboy altar, recently stating on MTV news – “I don’t make films for other people i make films for me.” He never even read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep before making Blade Runner.

The producer knows the original provided some some very restful laurels in terms of design and in the sequel he will push for the characters and story to be afforded space to breathe instead of over-clocking the effects and swamping the narrative.

2 ] The director (Denis Villeneuve) :

Canadian auteur Villeneuve has been plotting a steady course towards greatness for some years now. He was Oscar nominated in 2010 for the superb Incendies and went on to make the engaging thriller Prisoners and the criminally under-seen mystery mind – screw Enemy. His latest release, drug war drama Scicario, is the current darling of the festival circuit and will populate a multitude of best of year lists.

He has already safely negotiated a black run of the science fiction slopes this year in the shape of Story of Your Life. This adaptation of Ted Chaing’s eponymous short story explores how the structure of linguistics can be cognitively influenced by an individuals world view via Fermat’s principle of least time. No matter how complex Blade Runner 2 gets the odds are he wont get overwhelmed.

Villeneuve definitely has the nerve and conviction to nail this sequel. His ability to manage screen violence and escalating tension in a confident yet subtle manner will suit the originals overall vision perfectly.

3 ] The writers (Hampton Fancher , Michael Green ) :

Fancher(top left) co-wrote the original screenplay with the talented David Webb Peoples (Unforgiven , 12 Monkeys) and although neither has set the movie world alight recently the draft for Blade Runner 2 has passed through the hands of reliable scribe Micheal Green(top right)

Green is responsible for some great T.V. work with Smallville and Heroes and his future projects include contributions to both the Wolverine and Alien franchises.But it is his script for the 2015 Oscars that may prove the most illuminating credential and hint towards an inclusion of some of the more sardonic tendencies that spiked Philip Kindred Dick’s original source material.

Harrison Ford has gone on record as saying “It’s the best script he has EVER read” , he has said nothing about the new Star Wars script, and director Villineuve has stated that the screenplay is so strong that it is “a privilege” for him to work on it.

4 ] The cinematography (Roger Deakins) :

Jordan Cronenweth(Altered States , Rolling Thunder) was DoP on the original Blade Runner and he was nothing short of astonishing. During the shoot he often had to be carried onto the set but refused to let his Parkinson’s disease define him. He was bizarrely shunned by the academy for Blade Runner but won the BAFTA for Best Cinematography. Sadly this visionary pioneer died in 1996.

How do you replace such an iconic talent ? With Roger Deakins the best director of photography in the world (Fargo, The Shawshank Redemption) of course. He has been Oscar nominated a staggering 12 times in the last 20 years and is yet to turn his artful eye in the direction of Sc- Fi movies.

The legendary lensman could film a recently bombed shit farm and leave every frame looking like it could hang in a gallery so Blade Runner 2 is sure to be a sweet shop for the eyes.