Rutger Hauer Says 'Blade Runner 2049' Has "No Humor, No Soul"

When the party invitations went out to the cast of “Blade Runner” to return for “Blade Runner 2049,” Rutger Hauer was decidedly left out in the cold. Harrison Ford and Edward James Olmos cleared their calendar, while Sean Young gave permission for a digital version of her younger self to swing by. However, Hauer was left crying tears in the rain (though it would’ve required some serious narrative pretzels to being Roy Batty back from the dead). But maybe Hauer didn’t want to attend the party anyway.

Last fall, shortly before ‘2049’ hit cinemas, the actor sniffed about why the sequel had been made at all. “It’s a free market – people can do it if they buy the rights. But if something is really good, I would never try it, because it’s like you’re digging a hole for yourself, and why would you want to do that?” Hauer said in September.

Now, speaking at the Berlin International Film Festival where’s promoting his recent Bible movie “Samson,” the actor hasn’t changed his opinion much about ‘2049’ now that he’s seen it.

“I sniff and scratch at it. It looks great but I struggle to see why that film was necessary,” he told THR. “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.”

I’m not sure where Hauer was going with the “E.T.” comparison, but I would agree that for all the ideas in ‘2049,’ there’s an arguable lack of a singular, compelling thematic concept. That said, it’s exactly the kind of movie that demands a second viewing to fully unravel its mysteries.

Thoughts? You know where to leave ’em.