BLADE RUNNER 2049 TRAILER BREAKDOWN!

Harrison Ford is continuing his victory lap, and while The Force Awakens was miles better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, some of us had our doubts about Blade Runner getting a sequel. But the release of this trailer has me pretty dang excited, and it’s clear that at the very least, this will be a beautiful movie to watch. There’s a lot going on here, so let’s do a scene by scene trailer breakdown! (obviously watch the trailer before reading this)

:00 CAN WE STOP WITH THIS NONSENSE? WHY SHOW US A TEASER OF THE TRAILER IN FRONT OF THE TRAILER? It’s bad enough to release a “trailer teaser” at all, but don’t also throw it at the front of this because YouTube tweens have short attention spans.

:07 You immediately realize you should have been way more excited about this movie. Right off the bat, the first shot is unmistakably Blade Runner, huge pyramid-looking buildings. Foggy night, lights from a small ship flying overhead. And the synth music is straight out of the original.

:10 A nod (a wink, really) to Atari, the video game pioneering company that was still big in 1982  when the first movie came out, but would get lapped by Nintendo soon after. Atari logos can be seen in the first movie, which takes place in 2019, and this is a charming callback to the wrongful assumption that this brand would still be relevant. It’s also an interesting shot, at first glance you think this Spinner (the Blade Runner word for flying cars) is flying sideways, but I think this is actually looking down, between two skyscrapers.

:13 Again, with the huge architecture. We see two figures walking through a gigantic room, which is reminiscent of the Tyrell Corp building in the original. The massive scale of all the buildings in the Blade Runner universe is intentionally unsettling, corporations dwarfing the humans like they no longer belong.

:14 And we see that the two figures are Ryan Gosling and what is probably Jared Leto’s assistant, as they make their way through what seems to be the place where replicants are made. Gosling seems uneasy as he looks at the models of replicant designs on display. The score really starts to kick in here, and we also get a voice over from Leto over the next few images.

:19 Leto says “Every civilization was built off the backs of a disposable workforce, but I can only make so many”. He seems to be saying this to a replicant that has just been “born”, as we see her slip out of an embryonic sack and fall onto the floor like a newborn giraffe. Leto comforts her as she shivers, wiping off what is essentially placenta, and says “happy birthday”. We also see that he appears to be blind. This hands-on approach, “John Hammond insisting to be present for each dinosaur birth” is the opposite of what Tyrell seemed to be like in the original. Leto waxing poetic is somewhat reminiscent of how the replicant Roy Batty talks about humanity, and makes it sound like Leto has grown tired of creating slave labor for the human race.

:34 Then we get hit with some cool red logos, which is a nice touch to set the mood. So much of what made Blade Runner cool is the mood, and throughout this trailer you get the sense that director Denis Villenueve understands that completely.

:35 Another couple of shots that just scream Blade Runner. First the silhouette of Gosling walking down a foggy street at night, only lit from passing vehicles. Very much like a detective in film noir. And then an overhead shot of what is probably the police headquarters, another massive building. We start to get a voice over from Robin Wright, who appears to be Gosling’s boss. “There is an order to things” she explains to him.

:39 A very cool shot of Wright talking to Gosling, as we see them through the rain coming down the window she is looking out. “That’s what we do here” she continues.

:41 Some really cool looking dark blue shots, almost like they are lit by a blacklight. First is of Gosling’s hand raising a gun, and then we see his face and he’s been beat up pretty bad.

:46 Wright continues her speech. “The world is built on a wall that separates kind” we see some massive advertisement projection that people walk through, reminiscent of the future portrayed in Ghost in the Shell. We also see Gosling walking with his popped collar, looking the part.

:51 Wright finishes, “Tell either side there’s no wall, and you bought a war”. And we see Gosling meeting a young woman in the rain. She looks lost and afraid, but he hugs her. It seems like this woman will be a replicant, mirroring the relationship between Deckard and Rachael in the original. It’s interesting to think about why Wright feels the need to give this speech to Gosling. It sounds like society has been divided between humans and replicants, and Gosling doesn’t agree with the rules. In the original, replicants seem to have only been designed for slave labor or as sex toys, and are killed when they try to do anything else. Who knows what has happened in the thirty years since, but it doesn’t seem like things have gotten any better. It’s also fair to assume that Wright took this role because there’s something to it beyond just being a police chief, so I could also see her being a secret bad guy that Gosling mistakenly has confided in. She could even be revealed to in fact be a replicant herself.

:58 Full-on Blade Runner score as we now see some bright orange shots, out of place with what we expect. Gosling has taken his Spinner and flown to some post-apocalyptic city, that appears to be abandoned. Hard to recognize any of the skyscrapers to say where he is. There’s a boat, though, which is a nice touch.

1:03 And we get a voice over from Harrison Ford, interesting decision to hear him before we see him. “You’re a cop” he says, assumedly to Gosling. Gosling walks up to an abandoned building. Ford continues offscreen “I had your job once…I was good at it”.

1:08 Gosling spots a tripwire alarm, and calmly steps over it. Someone is hiding in this building and doesn’t want any visitors.

1:13 And we see Ford step out of the shadows, pointing his gun at Gosling, who calmly sits at the bar. Face all beat up like we saw in the early dark blue shot. Gosling barely nods, and mumbles what I think is “how you doing?” Ford realizes he’s not a threat, not here to kill him, and asks “what do you want?” and Gosling responds, “I want to ask you some questions” which causes Ford to give a look.

There’s a lot to unpack in this small interaction. If you’ve ever seen Blade Runner, you know that the biggest debate of the film is about whether or not Ford’s character is actually a replicant (there are multiple versions of the film that seem to support both arguments, and Ford has gone on record saying he thought Deckard always was human, while director Ridley Scott says he was a replicant). Since replicants were supposedly only designed to live four years, and probably can’t age physically, having Ford in this movie seems to imply that he is just human. But it’s also easy to interpret this as him hiding from Blade Runners, thinking that Gosling has come to kill him. And Gosling saying he wants to ask him some questions makes us think about the Voight-Kampff test, a series of questions Blade Runners would ask people to figure out if they’re actually replicants. I think this is just a wink to the audience though, given Ford’s reaction to the line, and Ford is human. This would mean that Gosling has set out to find him in order to find out what he knows, either about replicants in general or how to hunt them, and probably why he is hiding.

1:25 Now we get a shot of what is assumedly Gosling’s Spinner flying over a snow-covered terrain, seemingly untouched by man.

1:27 And then a quick shot of Gosling driving through a city at night, which feels like it should have come earlier in the trailer. Reaching the part of a trailer where they’re just gonna throw a lot of shots at us.

1:29  Someone’s voiceover says “you came to the future” I think it might be Leto, but not sure. We see Ford and Gosling standing in the snow, as Gosling looks at his hand. Both of them seem pretty blown away by something.

1:30 We see some interestingly dressed people walking through a crowd, it seems pretty obvious that these are replicants up to no good.

1:33 The voiceover finishes with “is finally unearthed” and this line doesn’t really make sense as I hear it, but it works with the imagery of a finger wiping away carved numbers on a stone, that appears to be a date 6 10 21, which would be about five years after the first movie. This is cut to look like Gosling steps back from this stunned, but I’m not sure this is what he’s reacting to. As far as the carving, not sure what this is. It could be rachaels grave, and Ford buried her after she “died” when her shelf life ended. I don’t see why Gosling would have a big reaction to that, but like I said I think this is just clever editing.

1:35 Now we get some shots back inside Leto’s building, of what seems to be his assistant coming out on a platform, and then Leto again. The assistants hair is definitely reminiscent of Rachael from the original, making me think she is a replicant. Leto says something to her, like “are you untied?” As we see later in the trailer, he seems to be sending her off on a mission of some kind, and she goes up against Gosling.

1:37 Some sort of shootout here between Gosling and the replicant assistant we just saw. Gosling seems to have pulled her over, but she is opening fire at him from her car. It’s cut to look like her car plummets down towards the water below, escaping, but this might be another scene, or Gosling’s car.

1:40 Now we see Ford, looking out his hideout with binoculars. “They know you’re here” he says to Gosling. Someone has arrived looking for Gosling, rather than Ford it would seem.

1:41 And here’s our money shot, HARRISON FORD RUNNING. If you think he looks weird cause he’s old, go back and watch Temple of Doom, he runs the same way. The man can do a lot of things, but Tom Cruise he is not. Anyway, he’s running from someone who bursts through the wall, someone who has to be a replicant. It’s interesting that replicants are searching for Gosling, and not the other way around. He might have uncovered something, and is on the run from replicants sent by Leto or Wright to kill him.

1:42 Then we get a brief shot of Gosling stopping Ford from getting too close to a parked Spinner that explodes. Gosling walks into the building where Ford is hiding, so this is either Ford’s, or the bad guys who show up later that Gosling shoots at.

1:44 A quick shot of Gosling walking through an empty lounge, with what looks like an Elvis impersonator onstage. There’s a lot of dreamlike imagery in this trailer, but I think this actually is a dream of Gosling’s, like Ford’s character kept seeing a Unicorn in the original (in case you forget, the unicorn dreams seemed to be proof that Deckard was a replicant. Edward James Olmos’ character seemed to know what Deckard was dreaming about without him telling him, which implied that Deckard’s dreams were implanted and that he was a machine. Speaking of Olmos, he better show up in this movie.)

1:45 Gosling busts out a switch blade on one of the replicants we saw walking through a café earlier,  I’m assuming in an attempt to make her talk.

1:46 We get our first shot of Bautista, who HAS to be playing a replicant. He looks to be dressed fairly normally for a replicant, though. Maybe he doesn’t know what he is? Or more likely, he is hiding it from people? Either way he is a big dude that Gosling is gonna have to fight, as we see him throw Gosling through a wall in the next shot.

1:47 Another great shot of a giant advertisement projection reaching out to touch Gosling. Seemingly meaningless in terms of plot, but great for mood.

1:48 Now we see Gosling leaving a burning shelter in the middle of nowhere, which looks like it might be the same place we saw Bautista. Hard to imagine Bautista is already dead inside, more likely that he escaped and perhaps burned the place down himself in an effort to hide evidence. There’s also some greenhouses in the shot, looks like an attempt to grow something in what looks like dead soil.

1:48 A quick shot of Gosling pointing a gun at Leto’s assistant, probably form the earlier encounter we saw near the water.

1:49 The same empty lounge that Gosling was walking through earlier, now the stage has a colorful dancing cabaret. Again I think this is dream imagery.

1:50 Another ad, this time a digital billboard. A woman and the word Joi, which is either her name or a brand. Could be important to the plot, could also just be a billboard. But I think she shows up later in the trailer, talking to Gosling.

1:51 A quick shot in the forest, which seems very out of place. Gosling has somehow made his ship invisible, and is stepping out of it towards a woman who seems to be running from him. It’s obvious that there are a lot more locations in this than in the first movie.

1:51 And a quick shot of Ford and Leto’s assistant sitting in the back of Gosling’s vehicle as it appears to be covered in water. Gosling seems to have arrested her?

1:51 And then Ford in action! Punching someone, even. But the colorful dancers are behind him, so either Gosling is dreaming about Ford fighting him, or this club is real and not a dream. Hard to know.

1:52 An overhead shot of what I think Ford and Leto’s assistant were seeing earlier, water crashing down onto whatever vehicle they are in.

1:52 Gosling is freaking out here, looking like he has finally snapped and giving a “this is not okay” speech. They definitely want us to start wondering if Gosling has found out he’s a replicant.

1:53 A couple quick shots back in the desert building where Gosling finds Ford, he appears to have just shot someone as he turns and aims his gun at a Spinner turning towards him.

1:54 And then a closeup on a green eye, which appears to have the reflection of the forest in it. I’m guessing this is the eye of a replicant, probably the woman Gosling is stepping out of his invisible vehicle to stop.

1:55 And then we cut to black, and we get another voiceover, this time from a woman who looks a lot like the woman in the Joi ad. She tells Gosling “I always told you…you’re special” and Gosling looks like he’s taking in a lot with this information. The initial reaction to this is that Gosling has just found out he’s a replicant. But this seems too obvious, and would be a pretty crazy surprise to ruin in the trailers. Still, it’s hard to interpret it any other way.

2:03 She continues, saying “your story isn’t over yet, there’s still a page left” as we pan up from a book with torn out pages to Gosling’s terrified face. He can’t believe whatever the torn out pages imply. Gosling is showing way more emotion in this then Ford ever did in the original, and more than we’ve seen any replicant show for that matter either (save for maybe Batty). Again, this is heavily implying that Gosling has just found out he isn’t human, but I’m not sure I believe it. The book is interesting, it must have been some sort of log or record book, but it seems old, like from the days of the original.

And then we get the titles and that’s it. While all signs point to Gosling being a replicant, I’m guessing if this is true, its revealed fairly early on in the movie, since it doesn’t seem like they are hiding it. At any rate, he seems to uncover some secret, maybe that replicants are being used illegally or living among people. One character who seems to be missing from the trailer is the big bad, this movie’s Roy Batty. I think this is another sign that this character might actually be Robin Wright, since she is the only other big name in this. Jared Leto is obviously up to no good, but I doubt he’s the main event.

I have to say I was pretty skeptical of this sequel when I first heard about it, but the look and feel of this trailer has got me totally on board. What did you guys think? Thanks for reading!

SEQUEL REWRITE: THE HANGOVER PART II

Here at FGFC, we think there is nothing more disappointing than being excited for a movie sequel and then realizing it’s terrible. And there are a lot of really, really bad movie sequels out there. Shameless cash grabs that lazily rehash the same beats of the first movie, without seeming to understand why people loved the original in the first place. Sequel Rewrite aims to right these wrongs by thinking about how easily things could have been so much better. 

The original Hangover movie was a pleasant surprise, a fresh idea that launched its cast into big time stars. It was a huge success,  and people loved the comedy of watching these guys retrace their steps. And while it was obvious that the sequel had to operate with the same structure, this caused some people think the sequel felt like a boring retread of the first movie. But I don’t actually think the structure was the problem. Here are three simple changes that would have made the Hangover part II a much better movie.

MOVE IT FROM BANGKOK TO MEXICO

One of the main reasons the first movie was so successful is how relatable the premise was (or how relatable young people wanted it to be), that you and your friends are so fun and crazy that you go out for a night in Vegas for a bachelor party, and then wake up the next morning with no idea what happened, and you have a trail of destruction in your wake. Everybody knows somebody who has a story like this, and while it probably doesn’t involve a tiger and Mike Tyson, it’s still easy to connect to. It celebrated blacking out with your best friends, something that almost every college kid does weekly.

One of the problems with the second movie is that it assumed the audience had a relationship with Bangkok, that we all knew it was some crazy place that you don’t want to get lost in. but the average person has never been there. American audiences associate three places for partying too hard: Vegas, new Orleans, and Mexico. New Orleans would have also been an interesting option, but I think the obvious choice here was Mexico. In fact I’m sure they originally thought of Mexico, but decided it was actually TOO obvious, and out-thought themselves. But this was a mistake. Mexico would have been a perfect way to raise the stakes, while still keeping the story relatable. Everybody jokes about drinking too much and waking up in a Mexican prison. The Wolfpack actually does it.

HAVE THEM OWE MONEY TO A CARTEL LED BY JAVIER BARDEM

Think of everything Mexico gets you: donkey show jokes, drug money, and crazy cartels. Since we’re moving the movie to Mexico, we obviously need to involve our group in some crazy drug war between the cartels and the FBI. Say they wake up the next morning, back in Napa, and have a huge duffel bag full of cash. They don’t know how they got it, but have a really bad feeling about it. We come to realize that they actually somehow blew up a drug deal and stole money from the equivalent of El Chapo.

This would also allow for some great action pieces, which can be really funny in this franchise when done well. The action can’t feel forced for it to work, and by dropping these funny characters into an action movie plot, you could get the best of both worlds (picture the 21 Jump Street movies, or Pineapple Express). The tone needs to remain comedic, which is something this franchise forgot, especially in the third installment. You can put these characters in serious and deadly situations, but its a fine line before you’re turning these movies into something they’re not. It’s important that it never gets too dark.

And this also creates a great villain character that’s after them the whole movie once they get back to Mexico. Bringing in an actual villain is another way to make the sequel feel bigger. And this would have been a really fun role for someone like Javier Bardem. They actually tried to legitimize the sequel by bringing in a real actor (Paul Giamatti), but he didn’t really work. He wasn’t scary enough, or funny enough, and he just seemed out of place. But Bardem would be perfect at chewing up the scenery.

HAVE THE WOLFPACK JOIN FORCES WITH A BACHELORETTE PARTY

This is the biggest mistake they made. The main knock against the first movie was how misogynistic it was, and how poorly drawn the female characters were. Bridesmaids came out as a direct response, and was a huge hit. It seems like an obvious answer in hindsight, but also, how did they miss this? A group of guys on a bachelor party are always looking for a bachelorette with similar numbers to mingle with. They really needed to have our guys join up with a three woman bachelorette party who ends up being crazier than they are.

To show how this would work, let’s set the scene. The three guys (forget Justin Bartha, just say his wife won’t let him go anywhere with these guys again) are in Napa for Ed Helms’ bachelor party. Its been a year since the last movie, and he and Heather Graham have decided to have a real wedding for their anniversary (side note: losing Heather Graham and having Helms marry a Thai girl we’ve never met, just so the movie could take place in Thailand was a bad call).

So Bradley Cooper convinces Ed Helms to have a bachelor party, but Helms wants the exact opposite of last time, so they go to Napa for wine tasting. It’s boring, Zach G is suddenly obsessing about wine the way he obsessed about counting cards (picture him sniffing wine and saying what’s in it). Bradley Cooper is ready to kill himself, and then when they’re about to leave the winery, in walks three women. The mirror image of them in female form. Melissa McCarthy for Zach, Rachel McAdams for Bradley Cooper, and a third dorky girl for Ed Helms (We won’t worry too much about casting her, because she is the one that goes missing the next morning).

They all party hard, cut to the next morning, and the bride is missing. Melissa McCarthy and Rachel McAdams blame the wolfpack, and force them to come along as they retrace their steps and realize somehow they made their way to Mexico (and back) the night before.

Adding these two hilarious women to the cast would be a huge benefit, seeing their dynamics with our guys (we already know how well these actors all work together), and making it feel like more of a bigger deal sequel by having a larger search party. This would have made the movie so much more fun.

And that’s it. What do you guys think? Do you agree that this would have saved the movie, or do you think they structure was just too boxed in? Thanks for reading!

and to hear a much more detailed rewrite of The Hangover Part II, check out the podcast!