When Blade Runner 2049 offered an extended stay in the universe created by Ridley Scott’s original, most of the major players from the original returned in some form or another. The most important character who didn’t is Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty, which is just as well, considering what Hauer thinks of the film.
Image: Warner Bros.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hauer shares his conflicted feelings about Blade Runner 2049. When asked if he’s seen it, he replied, “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 of that was earned over 30 years in the underground.”
He then went on to more directly criticise the film, claiming it lacked something that the original had: “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 humour, there’s no love, there’s no soul. You can see the homage to the original. But that’s not enough to me.”
It’s an interesting take from someone so close to the franchise, though he isn’t the only person involved to criticise 2049: Ridley Scott himself said it was “way too fucking long”.
Though, when it all comes down to it, Hauer concedes that his opinion isn’t the important one for the Blade Runner franchise going forward, concluding, “I knew that wasn’t going to work. But I think it’s not important what I think.”