Not perfect, but achieves greatness

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2001)

This is one of those films that you simply HAVE TO SEE. NOW. ON A BIG SCREEN. There's really never been anything like it, but I'll make the following comparisons: 2001 A Space Odyssey, Pennies From Heaven, The Wizard of Oz. Films that pushed the previous boundaries of cinema so far, technically AND artistically, and in such surprising and imaginative ways, that they inspired a kind of happy giddiness at the sheer awesomeness of what film can do. Films that provided so much sheer visceral pleasure that you wanted to go back and see them again almost immediately.

Since the film is now in release, I will not say anything specific about the it. Surprise and delight are so much a part of its fun. I will say this. It's not perfect, though maybe after repeated viewings I will change my mind. Not everything works. Aspects of it are unexceptional. Yet, even if only succeeding half the time, it deserves a place among the great films of our time.