This has gotten good reviews from the press (well, here in UK anyhoo), but less so from the 'fans'. Is there any sequel or follow up to a cult / iconic film that isn't gonna piss off the die-hard fans? Most of them will be doomed from the start (think the Prometheus effect).
Like the original, this may be a slow burner, and only garner cult status later. Bladerunner when first released did tepidly in the box office, only later, after years had bypassed it did it show its resilience in haunting people's dreams.
I do wonder what the slow burning cult films being released today will be revealed in the future as iconic to our time. Stuff like Pirates of the Caribbean or Frozen will be forgotten and cast aside as run-of-the-mill, and flicks like say, Babadook or Kingsman will become the be all and end all of our time. Noticed Halloween costumes already for The Strangers.
We are I think clearly in an era were at the cinema at any rate(perhaps less so for home viewing?) audiences are more obcessed than ever with hyped franchises at the cost of almost everything else. Part of that is I think as has been mentioned the dumbing down of cinema in general but also I think the shear cost of tickets means people are much less willing to take risks in their viewing.
As far as 2049 itself goes whilst I did enjoy it I must confess I do kind of find myself in the position you mention as a diehard fan of the original. I find myself in pretty strong disagreement with the idea that the sequel recaptures the success of the original especially, again its certainly not without its merits but it feels like a very different piece of cinema to me, much less arty drama and much more action thriller.
Although I would also say that the original film has always been a bit of an oddball in terms of where its fandom comes from. It has always tended to be embraced by the "sci fi geek" audience yet I very often kind of get the idea that a lot of commentary on it is rather avoidant on the film itself not really meeting expectations. In that respect I think 2049 does arguably meet these expectations more fully being as mentioned more of an action thriller with a lot of focus on hard sci fi.
I wouldn't want to set my opinion totally in stone after one viewing but for me this comes at the expense of both the dramatic depth and character of the original. The sequels more plot focused approach and the breath of its story tends to mean that I don't think it really gets to grips with any part of it as successfully as the original did with Deckard, Rachel and Roys characters.
Equally I felt 2049 seems to become caught up in its own crushing seriousness in a similar way to Nolans sci fi epics. The original although is a very characterful piece of cinema not afraid to embrace the oddball(more than a bit of Clockwork Orange influence IMHO from the Kubrick fan Scott). Most obviously in Roy's character which I think benefits massively from this but in many others as well and in the general design of the world that doesn't just feel like a prediction of the future but rather pushes into nostalgia and somewhat fantastical, again I think greatly to the benefit of the story.
The sequel for me whilst an enjoyable piece of hard sci fi to me just seemed to be lacking in that magic and also somewhat in originally(not just as as a sequel but also lifting from stuff like Her, Drive, Equilibrium). If I was picking out "this generations Blade Runner" I would be more inclined to go with something like Under The Skin(from another obvious Kubrick fan in Glazier)..