I really like it as an opener. From the opening notes, it is clear that some new sounds and influences have entered the Dream Theater repertoire. I recognized the Chapman Stick immediately and thought it was cool as hell that Myung had picked one up. It immediately put me into an 80's King Crimson mentality, and a lot of their work had to do with playing patterns against each other, which happens a lot in "New Millenium", so it all fit very nicely.
I can see how a lot of people have trouble with it, as it is definitely an anomoly in the DT catalogue, and they didn't exactly follow this new direction, but I thought it was great.