There's only one adjective to describe it: Kubrickian

Rating: 10/10 (7 October 2017)

Since I saw Blade Runner 2049 (in the IMAX format) a day ago, thoughts of the film gave been unable to leave my head.
The larger the denominator of a rating, the more room there is to discuss error, so let's keep it to a simple four-star rating.
Out of ****, I give it ****.
Blade Runner 2049 is certainly not the same as the original, and fans looking for secure familiarity may find themselves lost in the future. This is a film that is harrowing, dark and emotional; however, it is also beautiful, true and pure. The film tells questions what sentience (or perhaps "having a soul" is more appropriate) really means. It does this over 163 minutes of unparalleled beauty, thanks to the striking, yet pensive work of director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins. In contrast to the heavily stylized look of the first film (legendarily done by Jordan Croneneweth, and which I consider to be one of the most beautiful films of all time), the team behind 2049 have found something new, but equally powerful. Blade Runner 2049 is filled with imagery that finds natural beauty in the oppressive world in which its characters live. It is a film full of rain, fog, snow and dust, all visually striking.
The characters are wonderfully fleshed out and the story starts slow as we are guided around future Los Angeles by Officer K (Ryan Gosling, in arguably his best performance - one which never stops developing over the course of the film). The pace may seem strange to some, but this is not an action-packed thrill ride. It's a noir, or neo-noir if you're a purist. These characters live lives, and that is shown at a realistic pace. One other performance deserves mention and that is the fantastic work of Harrison Ford, who has perfectly created a character that has aged thirty years, in body and mind.
The sound design and score is reminiscent of Morricone's accompaniments to Serio Leone's westerns or Carlos's work on A Clockwork Orange, in that it compliments and completes the world of the story perfectly.
The editing is quiet, and I didn't mention it on first draft of this review, but I feel that it must be noted, for bringing together the events of a whole world onto the screen.
The audience that I saw this film with behaved in a way that convinced me that they felt as I did upon the final frame of the film. Some left, in complete silence; others stayed, lost in thought. Few films' endings are quite as emotionally complete as this ending. It's difficult to review this film in parts, because each emotion we feel is justified by the end, so that what we feel is fulfillment. The story has ended, but the world lives on and we are filled with wonder.
My final notes refer back to the title. This film does indeed remind me of the work of Stanley Kubrick. It's a compliment that I have never given before, but I feel that here it is appropriate. It is not my place to say whether Kubrick would have liked this film, but I can assure the reader that this film is one of the decade's (if not the century's) finest and that its very existence is the kind of miracle that makes me love cinema.