Blade Runner 2049 Analysis

Blade Runner 2049 Analysis

Blade Runner 2049 is a film released in 2017 as a follow up of the 1982 film known as Blade Runner. The movie is about the life in the future, thirty years after the first film, between human beings and replicants (human clones). The main character, K, who is the blade runner uncovers information that threatens the peace between humans and replicants. I think that the main lesson from this film is that each one of us should not view themselves as being special. We are not the main characters in all narratives.

K, the main character of the film, is introduced as a blade runner, meaning that he is an advanced-model replicant whose purpose is to kill earlier model replicants that were not well-programmed to obey instructions. He is tasked with killing one replicant, Sapper Morton. Sapper was a protein farmer living his own quiet life. This task leads K to the discovery of information that was previously unknown. He discovers that the replicant, Sapper, had given birth to a child, even though replicants were believed to be sterile. Neander Wallace, an industrialist in replicants making, views the discovery as a great opportunity to improve efficiency in the replicant production. For K, however, the discovery leaves him baffled, with the possibility of his memories being real and not just simple implants made to convince him of a past life. He is also worried that he might have been Sapper Morton’s ‘miracle’, the one that he spoke of before his demise.

The film takes us through the journey of K trying to discover whether his suspicions bear truth, with him thinking that he is special. This is unlike many fiction movies such as The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games, where the main character begins as a normal person and later on discovers that he or she possesses supernatural abilities distinguishing them from other individuals. Blade Runner 2049 begins with K thinking that he is special, his quest to ascertain his suspicions, and eventually, his discovery that he is actually not. K’s investigation into his suspicions results in him acquiring the life of a real human boy, abandoning his earlier form of a mindless being living by taking spelled out orders from Lieutenant Joshi.

The discovery that a replicant could give birth, and that the replicant he killed has a child, which could be him, leads to K’s devastating journey seeking to find answers to his existence. He goes through an identity crisis after the discovery and views himself as the savior of the replicants from slavery. Joi, a hologram form of a woman, gives K a human-like life by telling him the things that he wants to hear and motivating him, causing him to acquire a human identity. Joi helps K realize his true identity. Even though he discovers that he is not special or the chosen one, he accepts his fate and even disobeys orders from Lieutenant Joshi.

When K realizes that he really is a replicant and that the memories he thought were his own were those of Anna, he remains composed and does not get enraged against fate. He refuses to accept a duty given by Freysa, an advanced revolutionary replicant who was pretending to be a madam. K goes on to organize the reunion of Rick Deckard and his daughter, Dr. Ana. Ana is revealed as the child born by a replicant. She used the memories of the time that she had been in hiding after her death was faked for her safety, by Rick and his friends. These memories are what was used to make K feel like a human being.

K gives power to the true main character in the prevailing war between replicants and humans, Ana. He prefers domesticity and letting the connection between Ana and Deckard thrive, rather than pressing on being the person at the war front, making a sacrifice or getting the glory of taking charge. The film does not take us through the journey of Ana discovering her identity, as that would have made it a totally different movies, but I really think that this was a very well composed film, bringing to light what affects most of us in today’s society, wanting to believe that we are the main characters in life and that we are special human beings. It also instills the lesson that we should pursue whatever roles and personalities that we choose for ourselves, and not be discouraged along the way, even when we find out that our thought and self-belief were wrong.