Criminally overrated

Rating: 3/10 (10 February 2002)

Let's get this straight: Stanley Kubrick is one of the most technically accomplished directors of all time. The man is a master in creating scenes that are so technically perfect that it looks like they were made by a scientist. And that is (was) also his biggest problem. He just wasn't that much of a storyteller. 2001 looks great but just like in most of his work, there is absolutely no trace of emotion or feelings. Things I need in a movie.
Sure that cut from bone to spaceship was inventive, and it was a great touch to let the ships spin with classical music on the soundtrack. The problem is: I don't care for what's happening on the screen. There are no characters we sympathise with (except for a few moments with HAL- the computer, yes I get the irony MR K)there is no story to follow. The only thing that's interesting in this movie are Kubrick and his camera. This is an overlong, boring, pretentious piece of would-be art; made for would-be intellectuals from a director who had nothing left to prove when he made this. See it once- then try to forget it
Rating: 5/10
Most Memorable Movie Moment: The demise of HAL