The movie equivalent of an empty canvas

Rating: 4/10 (20 February 2004)

While I'm generally a fan of Kubrick's movies ("A Clockwork Orange" and "Full Metal Jacket" are masterpieces), I think this one of the most overrated movies ever.
The basic problem to me is that "Space Odyssey" isn't really a movie but more a series of moving images with some music. Granted, the images are very beautiful, the effects are spectacular for the time, and the excellent music fits the visuals very well. But no amount of audiovisual flair is enough to save over 2 hours of movie if there's just nothing else going on.
And to me, that's the case here. There's virtually no plot, no character development, or anything else to really keep you interested. Sure, there are some hints at a deeper meaning, but they are so vague and ambiguous that they can be pretty much explained however the viewer wants. I'm not saying that there might not be some amazing message in there, but so far I've yet to find somebody who can come up with a really convincing explanation. Most of the time, people I talk to who like this movie completely fail to explain why they like it or what's it about.
Should it be about something? To me, yes. To me, movies should either entertain, tell a good story, or have a good message. This movie seems to do neither. It's too slow to entertain, it certainly doesn't have much of a story, and it also doesn't appear to have much of a message either. Still, I can understand that people like it just for its visuals, but then again I suspect that there are also many people that claim to like it because they don't want to appear stupid.
In the end, I'd say this is the movie equivalent of an empty piece of canvas that is turned into a piece of art called "the vast emptiness". It's a clever trick, but it's ultimately rather pointless, and many people only see a meaning behind it because they want to see it, not because it's necessarily actually there.
** out of ***** (because of the amazing visuals and sound)