Starts slow. It picks up a bit. Looks amazing. Good sound. Great shots. The journey into the zone did have a brilliant atmosphere, sense of adventure and was intriguing. Some of the dialogue was thought provoking and meaningful.
My problem is that some of the shots (nearly all) are very long for the sake of long arty shots. It feels extra long considering it's over two and a half hours in length. No it's not because I watch hollywood trash, it's a long movie by any standards. Especially a purposely slow paced one. It didn't gain any extra atmosphere by being long. It was bordering on self indulgent. There isn't much with character interaction and plot development after an hour, so it's the same old stuff but in a new tunnel. Dialogue become thinner.
It's everything I like and dislike in one movie. One of those movies people add to their CV to look sophisticated perhaps. After a while the writer character seemed a mirror for pretentious viewers/ failed artists to reflect upon. These aren't fully fleshed human characters, despite all the self analysis and doubt the writer is still a cliché. I dont mind that at all. But from what ive read it's supposed to be so much more philosophically. All ive read on imdb from fans is them attempting to turn the negatives i to positives. Would they act the same if those faults were in mainstream movies?. It's very well crafted but desolate in more than just setting, and panders to a specific audience.