‘Blade Runner 2049’ on HBO: This Is How You Do a Young Harrison Ford Movie

Have you found yourself disappointed in Solo, the Star Wars story that makes a good-faith effort to tell the Han Solo prequel story and is currently underwhelming both fans and ticket buyers alike. It’s not entirely the fault of director Ron Howard, writers Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan, or producer Kathleen Kennedy. And it is especially not the fault of young Alden Ehrenreich, who was tasked with the frankly impossible task of embodying one of the most iconic characters in modern film. It’s not a terrible movie, and in fact would be a lot of fun if audiences didn’t have decades worth of expectations and loyalties and unspoken history with the character of Han Solo. But we do have those connections, and there wouldn’t be a Solo movie if we didn’t, and so, unavoidably, we end up here at a disappointment.

Here’s the problem: you can’t cast an actor to be Young Harrison Ford. If Hollywood had a Young Harrison Ford, he’d be out there making movies and we wouldn’t have to bother with prequels and sequels anymore, because we’d all be busy watching Young Harrison Ford movies. Alden Ehrenreich is making good movies and giving good Alden Ehrenreich performances; rent Beautiful Creatures and Hail, Caesar! immediately if you need convincing. He gives a good Alden Ehrenreich performance in Solo! That’s just not what we want. What we want is Old Harrison Ford, and the only way we’re going to accept a Young Harrison Ford is if he’s standing next to Old Harrison Ford. And you know what movie did that really well, actually?

Blade Runner 2049.

Now readily available as it’s streaming on HBO GO and HBO Now, the new Blade Runner (sequel? reboot?) is not a flawless movie. It’s too long and for long stretches the storyline motivation isn’t nearly strong enough to match the breathtaking visuals. But … those visuals are breathtaking. The technical wizardry of the effects is breathtaking. Robin Wright and Mackenzie Davis and Sylvia Hoeks? All phenomenal. But what ultimately makes Blade Runner work is that it is about a younger Rick Deckard in spirit but not in fact.

It’s a sequel, after all, and Ford is here playing Deckard. But Ryan Gosling is obviously here to play the lead, to shoulder the movie the way Ford initially did. He’s even here to play next-generation Deckard, whether literally or only spiritually. But he doesn’t have to act like Ford. He still gets to be Young Ryan Gosling, and Ford gets to be Old Harrison Ford, and then they go fight androids together and then sit around and wonder if they’re androids for a while. That’s Blade Runner.

Where to stream Blade Runner 2049