Kubrick goes for pure art and loses some exposition in the process

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2018)

I'm very glad I read the book before watching the movie, because if I hadn't, I doubt I would've enjoyed or understood it at all. In the movie 2001, dialogue is minimized, allowing a classical score and great cinematography to take center stage. While this absolutely helps the film in some ways, it also makes the explanation of who the higher beings are and how they exist extremely unclear. What made the book great to me was the thematic considerations of human society relative to the higher beings, as you see evolution and transcendence of the physical world by the beings and, in the end, Bowman. There just wasn't enough to give the audience full appreciation for Bowman's journey and how shocking and difficult to deal with Hal's betrayal was. Certainly a good movie, and I admire the confidence to go all in on a meticulous, slowly paced and intelligent movie, but there just wasn't enough to latch on to.