The ‘hype train’ is a curious thing. Long gone are the days of one or two theatrical trailers and TV spots. Now we get trailer teasers, actual teasers, the first trailer, the second, the third, the prime time spot, the Super Bowl spot, the social media campaign, hell even the posters get given a release date. It’s more elaborate than it’s ever been, but it’s overbearing and often becomes so tiresome that by the time the film comes out you’re already bored of it. Once in a while though, a different approach is taken, and a breath of fresh air is offered.
Making short films to act as a run-up to the feature is not a new idea, but Dennis Villeneuve and the rest of the Blade Runner 2049 team have taken an interesting approach to it. A trio of short films have been released revealing little bites of information which help build the world we’ll be introduced to when the feature comes out, and bridging the gap between the original film and the sequel.
The first two were directed by Ridley Scott’s son, Luke. The first is set in 2036, and in it we get our first real look at Jared Leto’s Niander Wallace. We still don’t know exactly who (or what) he is, but in the short we find out that the Tyrell corporation who built replicants in the first film has gone bust, that replication manufacture has been outlawed, and that Wallace has decided that such a law doesn’t apply to him. He unveils the NEXUS-9 replicant (the ones in the first film were mark 7s) and asks it to choose between its own life and his, in order to prove that his replicants are incapable of harming humans.
The second is set just a year before the upcoming feature, and stars Dave Bautista as a replicant hiding out from the authorities, trying to scratch out a living in the tangled streets of Los Angeles. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work out that way, and we’re left with a final shot of someone reporting his address to the authorities. They’re both well made, intriguing set-ups, but the third film – released yesterday – is something else entirely.
This, in part, is down to the talent involved. It was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, the man behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. The music was done by Flying Lotus and Kuedo, and the character design was headed up by Shūkō Murase, who also did the character design for several of the Gundam series. To top it all off, Edward James Olmos reprises his role as Gaff from the original film. Of course, even the most exciting blend of talents doesn’t necessarily guarantee a quality piece of artistry, which is why I’m so delighted to report that Black Out 2022 is utterly, utterly wonderful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD0RCfcaols
Through the trailers and the previous two shorts, we can enter this final prequel armed with two pieces of important information, two things that have to happen at some stage between 2019 and 2036. Firstly, the Tyrell Corporation goes bankrupt, and second, something called ‘the blackout’ wipes out some, if not all background information on replicants. As the title suggests, 2022 explains exactly how this happened.
It introduces us to Iggy, a rogue replicant with no qualms about killing and a major bone to pick with basically all of humanity. He’s a NEXUS-8, a variation which we learn has a normal, human lifespan, as opposed to the 6-year one they had in the original film. With the help of another skin job named Trixie, he hatches a plan to detonate a nuclear device over the L.A. skyline, causing a city-wide power cut and erasing all the historical data on Tyrell replicants. That’s pretty much the whole film, it moves at an even-footed pace and it gives the small cast enough room to develop to build up some attachment before final moments.
It’s no surprise that under the direction of one of anime’s great legends, the film is sumptuous to behold, and the score put together by Flying Lotus and Kuedo is reserved and compelling, but even putting things aside, it’s a towering achievement. The dialogue hits a note between emotion and existential pondering which allows it to be thought provoking and involved without leaning too heavily on either one. To put it another way, it’s touching and clever without being cheesy or wanky. It’s a very simple story with only a few beats, but it manages to capture the essence of the original film without chasing after its shadow.
Blade Runner heavily impacted the creation a lot of early, groundbreaking anime. Watanabe cites it as one of his biggest influences, and both Akira and Ghost in the Shell probably couldn’t have existed without it. Similarly, the score Vangelis put together for the original film remains one of the most influential electronic scores ever produced, and you can hear echoes of it in the world of Flying Lotus, Kuedo and many of their other contemporaries. Despite this, 2022 isn’t a homage, it’s a self-contained, beautiful trip into the world of the original film through the eyes and ears of people who were inspired by it.
Blade Runner 2049 comes out on October 6th, you can watch Black Out 2022 right now on Crunchyroll
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