The word "pretentious" is thrown around too much these days.

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2015)

The Fountain is a film that really shows just how wonderful storytelling is. As this review is intended to encourage people to watch it (as well as to persuade viewers of its merits), I'll keep it brief and free from spoilers.
There are many reviews that claim this film is pretentious nonsense and that it's too artsy. However, let's just take this film for what it is: it's a film that's merely about the struggles of dealing with death, whether it be your own mortality or others. But, to sum its themes up briefly: It's a sci-fi film that bursts with romanticist philosophy. Unlike other films of its type, which you could be forgiven for calling "pretentious", there's barely any cryptic and seemingly unnecessary complication, and there wasn't one point in the film where I felt like something was going over my head. Yet it is still an intellectual masterpiece.
The Fountain raises thoughts that excite me in the way that it contains within itself a "fictional" story (also called "The Fountain"), written by Izzi, that is blended with the "real life" of present-day Tom and Issi, and indeed the future space-traveller. This makes the film as much a commentary on the arts and literature, suggesting that stories are as much a part of the universe as the physical existence of matter, influencing the lives of the people within it, much in the way that emotions do.
Speaking of emotions, this is an emotional story and therefore the acting needed to be spot-on. Being the first film I've seen Hugh Jackman in NOT as Wolverine, I was massively impressed by his convincing portrayal of our time-confused protagonist. Well done to Jackman for that!
The emotional nature of the film also called for a strong, but eerie, soundtrack. This has also been perfectly accomplished, with the main recurring string motif evoking strong feelings that perfectly coincided with the context on-screen. As for visuals, the colours and filters are beautiful, and all the settings for the story decorated in cold, metallic darkness. This really emphasises the claustrophobic and isolated nature of the film, making us feel like the universe centres around their love for each other, and ultimately invoking empathy in order to really make the emotional impact strong.
Relevant, clever, and underrated.