Plenty of opinions have been shared about Blade Runner 2049 since it entered theaters back in October. It was critically acclaimed but that didn’t translate into box office success despite looking absolutely gorgeous on the big screen. Ridley Scott offered his own criticism, saying the film was a bit too long for his tastes, and others likely agreed. But he’s not the only one that was involved in the original film to critique the sequel and question why it was made.
Rutger Hauer, who terrorized as Roy Batty in the original film, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about his role in Samson and ended up giving his thoughts on the new Blade Runner and where he thinks it went wrong:
I sniff and scratch at it. It looks great but I struggle to see why that film was necessary. I just think if something is so beautiful, you should just leave it alone and make another film. Don’t lean with one elbow on the success that was earned over 30 years in the underground. In many ways, Blade Runner wasn’t about the replicants, it was about what does it mean to be human? It’s like E.T. But I’m not certain what the question was in the second Blade Runner. It’s not a character-driven movie and there’s no humor, there’s no love, there’s no soul. You can see the homage to the original. But that’s not enough to me. I knew that wasn’t going to work. But I think it’s not important what I think.
Whether you agree with Hauer or not about the film, he does give an interesting answer that you wouldn’t expect. He easily could’ve said he “hated it” and complain about not being involved somehow, but it seems to take on that deeper meaning for him. What else would you expect from the guy who improvised one of the greatest movie lines in history?
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)