2001: A Space Odyssey (film) mini-reviews of the film in various issues in 1968, each one slightly more positive than the preceding one; in the final review dated December 27, 1968, the magazine called "2001" "an epic film about the history and future of mankind, brilliantly directed by Stanley Kubrick. The special effects are mindblowing." Pauline Kael called it "a monumentally unimaginative movie", and Stanley Kauffmann of "The New Republic" called it "a film that is so dull, it even dulls our interest in the technical ingenuity for the sake of which Kubrick has allowed it to become dull." Renata Adler of "The New York
Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey "The cyclical evolution from ape to man to spaceman to angel-starchild-superman is complete". The monolith appears four times in "2001: A Space Odyssey": on the African savanna, on the moon, in space orbiting Jupiter, and near Bowman's bed before his transformation. After the first encounter with the monolith, we see the leader of the apes have a quick flashback to the monolith after which he picks up a bone and uses it to smash other bones. Its usage as a weapon enables his tribe to defeat the other tribe of apes occupying the water hole who have not learned how