I liked this movie, I really did. It is very slow, very tense, very emotional, very deep, very very. It is an Aronofsky movie. Somewhere I read that many view him to be the "next Kubrick." I think comparisons like that are generally unnecessary, but I can understand the desire to say that. Darren is definitely a director who values the lasting importance of his films. He is very choosy and generally hard to work with from what I have read. It is rare that a writer / director as young as him can get away with that anymore. He is one of a very few modern directors that seem completely in control of his cache of work. Wes Anderson is another that seems to be in that group.
That said, The Fountain, big ideas, that almost go over the brink into self-indulgence. But he holds it together. Looking forward to more.