1. It's Pretentious
This is the one criticism that I've listed that has a lot of implications that are up to the viewer to decide and can't be proven by just using evidence from the film alone. I've decided to include it last since opinion plays such a huge factor here and also in film in general. The main problem with claiming that 2001 is pretentious is that for a movie to be considered pretentious it has to attempt to be much more important than it is while being made in a way that suggests the filmmakers don't have the talent or ability to achieve their vision. This is why, based on the very definition of the word, 2001 is not pretentious. It succeeds in every point that it wants to make and perfectly reflects the vision that Kubrick had for it. Since Kubrick did indeed have the talent and ability to make his film everything that he wanted it to be 2001 can't be considered pretentious. Whether a viewer likes or understands that has no impact on whether a film is pretentious or not as long as the movie in question can be dissected to show that the director executed their ideas in a manner that is sufficient to their goals. Thanks so much for reading and I'd love to hear our thoughts and opinions in the comments.