Great technical achievement, great fun, but little essence

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2012)

I won't bother to mention the positive sides of this movie, since they are well presented in most reviews. I agree that it takes the art of cinematography to its best. Technically, it is almost a perfect film. But that is not the reason I go to the cinema -to see only technical achievements- and that is why I will insist on some negative sides.
The film had great possibilities to touch some important issues, like what is important in life and what is not, what are the consequences of one's actions, and the chance of the existence of some evolution through the circle of lives and deaths. I was a bit disappointed to see that this great idea of reincarnation was only addressed superficially, as a series of make up and costumes on the same actors, who seemed to live their lives without experiencing the results of their own actions, but only those of others. The notion of reincarnation is connected to the notion of 'karma', which means that one should experience the result of one's own actions sooner or later. This movie missed a great chance (in my opinion) to deal with this important issue.
I guess the directors avoided to put much philosophy in the film, because they had their eyes on addressing a bigger audience, and I can understand that, given the huge budget of the film. It's just a bit sad that there is so much junk on cinemas, just to please the lazy 'average viewer' and there is not bigger effort in trying to educate him/her. That's why i appreciate the 'Tree of Life' a bit more than this one.
(of course, its always easy to judge somebody else's work, but I haven't made a better film myself, just saying...)