One of the greatest seminal works of cyberpunk spotted in cinematic history, which is also credited with kicking off the genre is Blade Runner 2049, which was released in 2017. It is a science fiction movie and is directed by Denis Villeneuve. In contrast to the previous sequel, the cyberpunk visual style is inspired by the modern era and is more advanced than the 80s look of Ridley Scott’s vision.
Blade Runner 2049 is a story set in a divergent future Los Angeles where officer K "retires" called replicants for synthetic androids. He finds an old crate at the beginning of the film that contains artifacts that his boss, Lieutenant Joshi, is sure will shatter the fragile equilibrium of the universe. It's his responsibility to ensure that no one ever finds the secrets hidden in that package. Almost every character in this film is trying to define or redefine what it is to be human. In addition, Villeneuve succeeds in taking the concepts from the original about humanity, memory, death, and legacy, but puts his own special twist on them while adding a little on love and AI (Artificial Intelligence). The films seem to want us to believe that it is possible to reduce humanity, feelings, and consciousness to digital bits of information. That the computers are human-capable. Well, not even modern AI scientists are aiming for the target. You can create anything to look and behave like humans, but consciousness is an entirely different "monster."
The philosophical concepts that were chosen to be addressed in Blade Runner 2049 are a perfect extension of ideas expressed in Blade Runner and in cyberpunk media as a whole, such as identity within a constructed reality, seeking meaning within this space, the relationship of labor to freedom, alienation, and authenticity. Villeneuve's sequel takes viewers to a daring and re-imagined image of the futuristic world of the original film. We see developments in technology that amaze the mind and the senses, while people struggle to live in poverty and terror. And the difference between rich and poor is getting bigger and bigger. The technologically advanced society is elegant and glamorous, but officer K reflects loneliness and alienation that offers a harsh reality of what will become a world without caring for one another.
One common thread that runs through cyberpunk as observed in the movie is the anxiety over the effects of unrestrained capitalism and how technology can make all of those effects worse. As a self-proclaimed cyberpunk, an important metric to me is that the film must be true to the spirit of the genre. Blade Runner 2049 is cyberpunk on the nose, but more than merely showcasing the trappings of cyberpunk aesthetics, it is a mature and advanced version of the genre. The film is visually revised, but not at the detriment of the plot. The aesthetics are true to contemporary cyberpunk visual design, but still have meaning in the story itself. The themes are mature types of concepts portrayed in the genre and in the ideology that inspired the cyberpunk itself. However, the film does not succeed in coming out as heavy-handed. The high tech does not gloss over the world's low-life elements, which are still full of racism, confusion, and monotony.
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