Be careful, people try to sell you things

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2008)

I read some of the last critics and was astonished, that ratings for this movie are either very high or very low, which shows that these people weren't critic at all. I had a great deal of expectations when I watched this movie. Many friends said it is superb and I like all the other Kubrick movies I watched so far. But yeah. First of all the complete movie is filmed with a very keen eye on details. The ape costumes for example are great and the space vessels seem very realistic. The effects are much ahead of its time and are still remarkable today. But there is much missing. After the initial ape scene, which has some great shots the really boring part begins. Wee see spaceships with Strauss' Danube waltz in the background. It is pretty, for about 5 minutes, but after it is just boring. The music keeps repeating and all is very very slow. Some of the former critics say that you have to appreciate the beauty in it. Well spacecrafts aren't exactly beautiful and the statement, you have to enjoy this movie as a picture is stupid, because it is a movie after all. Maybe Kubrick chose the wrong medium for his 'art'. Later on even the music itself stops and it gets worse and worse. Some critics said the ships must be slow for being realistic. That is stupid, because in space velocity is relative and it wouldn't be less realistic if the ship was faster or slower. Over all there isn't much of a plot, which doesn't need to be a bad thing if the rest is entertaining. But it isn't entertaining, therefore plot is missing. I have to admit, that the end became interesting again. After a psychedelic sequence, where one doesn't know what it means come a few very good scenes. My friend insisted, that one can't really grasp the whole thing without reading the book along. But that is not the characteristic of a great movie. The psychedelic experience could also have been caused by a lack of oxygen leading to a dream sequence. One couldn't know the difference. I believe, if you'd take only the first ape sequence and the last aging and rebirth sequence you would really get a fascinating movie. What I most hate about the movie are the people watching it and telling me it is one of the best movies of all time. These are the same kind of people that visit an art gallery for the sake of telling other people that they are interested in art. Even my friend, who praised the movie, suddenly admitted that the movie is in fact boring for the most part. Art is not good because it bores you. It is the same mentality as saying, that culture has to be boring and that boring things are culture. And yes, I am not the kind of person who loves action movies. If it would be an intelligent movie, it wouldn't be boring, because really intelligent movies aren't boring. People brag about the philosophical meanings of this movie. What is the meaning of a flying spacecraft? Why has to be a philosophical meaning in a fictional short story containing aliens teaching mankind? There simply isn't one. Most people say that this movie is awesome because their friends do and this makes me angry. To sum it up: Boring as a whole but has some interesting genius scenes. It is not a bad movie, but also definitely not great and it is certainly not mediocre.