Seeing 2046 was like watching In the Mood for Love but with an added element of a future fiction world and the relationship between a writer and his work. My biggest complaint with this movie is that it adds nothing to the table that Wong Kar Wai hasn't already done, so it becomes an almost burdensome task to sit through and watch this movie as if you're rewatching In the Mood for Love. Though it feels like the thematic companion, it is technically the sequel, which makes me like the characters less because it is as if they haven't matured or changed very much. The same problem plagues both movies: it feels as if Wong doesn't know when to end. He just keeps going and going. Some of the themes were too blunt and forced. Some of the slo-mo effects were obnoxious and didn't work quite as well as in all his earlier movies. And as Sameer noted during the movie, the displays of affection were quite bizarre and overexaggerated.Now, onto the good stuff. The cinematography is jaw-droppingly luscious. It's probably Wong/Doyle's best of their collaborations. I would compare it only to In the Mood for Love, although this one is more expansive and inventive while In the Mood for Love was more restricted and conservative in tones, hues, and compositions. The music was amazing, a perfect soundtrack with just the right amounts in just the right places. It wasn't too overpowering as in My Blueberry Nights. And I really did enjoy the stuff that wasn't in In the Mood for Love, like the fictional futuristic universe. I thought it was one of the best parts of the movie and was disappointed at its relatively limited inclusion. (I didn't think the special effects were that good though.) I also liked the concept of how a writer weaves his own life stories into his work in different ways. It was always interesting to see how events were reinterpreted in the 2046 world. What I liked specifically about this movie that I don't recall happening in any of his other movies was the use of setups. It seemed like the entire movie set up curious behaviors and shots that teased you, only so that later on they could reveal the underlying reasonings. Normally I feel it's a cheap tactic to get you to like the movie more, but here it works surprisingly well. (My only complaint is that when it ends, it starts tying up all the loose ends with very poetic ruminations. It makes you feel like the movie is about to end, but no, there are about five more subplots whose endings need to be tied up.) Anyway, I definitely recommend this movie if you haven't yet seen In the Mood for Love, but if you have, there's not much to warrant seeing this unless you're just dying to experience Wong's entire oeuvre.
IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0212712/