Review of 2010 (1984) by G R — 01 Jan 2010

At the risk of sounding utterly blasphemous and sacrilegious, I'm one of the very few who enjoys "2010" more than its legendary predecessor, "2001: A Space Odyssey". I can appreciate and respect what a groundbreaking achievement Stanley Kubrick's film is, but it is pretty tedious and boring to watch at times; "2010" is a more straightforward, plot-driven sci-fi adventure, but it's a pretty good one at that.

It seems that one's enjoyment of "2010" is often completely disproportionate to one's enjoyment of "2001" since it attempts to unravel the mysteries and explain the events of Kubrick's original; some of the purists have always had a problem with that, but for those who are curious to find out the answers, it's a pretty exciting ride.

It may not leave much to the imagination, but "2010" works very well as a standalone film because of its terrific cast, likable characters and spectacular special effects, and only falters with a rather corny conclusion; when the characters are constantly hyping that "something wonderful" is going to happen at the end, it's pretty damn hard to live up to expectations!