A movie for the ages

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2006)

I'm voting this movie a 10 with the future in mind. Today, for me, it's really an 8, but I fully expect my appreciation of it to grow over time. This is not a quickie get-in, get-out, eye-candy popcorn movie, which I actually rather expected. It's a deliberate, multi-layered, methodical masterpiece. It's somewhat inaccessible because it's visionary and unlike any sf movie we expect today. I predict that it will have a slow theatrical run and will probably disappoint at the box office. Over the next few years, it will slowly grow as a cult film. Then 10 years from now, it will experience a resurgence of interest, eventually claiming its place in the pantheon of classics. It will be under-appreciated in its time but will become surprisingly influential. Years from now, a much savvier generation will look back and wonder why the audience of 2006 neglected it in favor of Happy Feet and James Bond. That's the kind of movie this is. If you fully understand it the first time, pat yourself on the back. But I believe its full potential will be realized with maturity - the film's and ours.