By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 14 seconds ago
Blade Runner 2049 was a beautiful, crowd-pleasing return to the bleakly beautiful world created by Ridley Scott in the first film. With solid performances, dazzling visuals, and a mind-bending story, that sequel felt like the end of a very long, very good story. Personally, I felt that the franchise was over and that it went out on a high note. Imagine my surprise, then, to learn that the film was getting a follow-up TV show on Prime Video, complete with Scott executive producing. What will this show be about, I wondered, and will it be a worthy successor to what came before?
Well, good news, bad news, as a new trailer answers one of those questions.
Somehow, Blade Runner Returned
Blade Runner 2099 is a TV show that revolves around two characters. One is Cora (played by Hunter Schafer), a fugitive who hopes she can stop running by impersonating a blade runner. The other is a dying replicant (played by Michelle Yeoh). In this brave new world, humanity lost a war against replicants; those replicants now rule society, forcing humans to become second-class citizens. Now, our two main characters must reluctantly team up to track down a runaway whose secret knowledge could completely unravel a society that has only recently put itself back together.
Don’t expect all of that information in this trailer…at least, not directly. For our first real look at Blade Runner 2099, Prime Video has taken the term “teaser” quite literally, and this trailer is more about dramatic vibes than exposition. As for the vibes, they are decidedly mixed. There are some cool exterior shots of flying cars and giant buildings that look quite beautiful, and a bright, red-drenched sequence where unknown characters are watching a ship launch into the air. That brief, colorful glimpse is momentarily breathtaking. Unfortunately, we are then plunged back into a grim, grimy world that looks oh-so-forgettably generic.
It’s Michelle, Yo!
While the Blade Runner 2099 teaser trailer shows us a hodgepodge medley of action scenes and brooding character scenes (far more of the latter), we get narration from Schafer’s character. She discusses humans losing a war to the replicants and replicants reducing humanity to “nothing.” This is followed by ominous narration from Yeoh’s character about how the “old world” is trying to come back and how “humans want what was taken from them.” Unfortunately, those pesky meatbags haven’t learned what the replicants have been trying to teach them: “It’s our time now.”
Conceptually, the story behind Blade Runner 2099 is interesting. I find myself naturally intrigued about how this world works; like, how does everyone see blade runners now that replicants are running the show? What is the truth that the runaway knows, and how does that truth threaten all of society? Also, why is our human protagonist interested in preserving a status quo where powerful robots treat her like sh*t? Good job, trailer: this teaser filled me with questions that will almost certainly get me to watch the show.
Time To Die, Blade Runner
Aside from my need to answer those questions, though, most of this Blade Runner 2099 teaser trailer is just off-putting. Not telling us anything about the main characters is a mistake; it’s hard for viewers to tell why these characters would ever work together, especially with no mention of teaming up to find the runaway. On a deeper level, the fact that we know nothing about these characters makes it hard to care about what happens to them. Honestly, everything that’s good or interesting about this trailer is swallowed by a gritty aesthetic, one just as dark and boring as Blade Runner 2049 was colorful and compelling.
Everything that’s good is swallowed…or, should I say, lost? Like tears, in the rain? Watching this Blade Runner 2099 trailer, I couldn’t help but think of Roy Batty’s haunting final words. That replicant was worried that his existence wouldn’t matter because everything he did would eventually be forgotten. That’s not really true, of course: others remember him and, in that way, keep him alive. Blade Runner could learn from its own history and realize that it’s enough to live on in the minds of countless fans. Now, the potential failure of this new series may forcibly teach the franchise the same lesson Batty learned the hard way:
When it’s time to die, it’s time to die.
