It probably could have been tweaked just a bit so you wouldn't need the voiceover to make sense of everything
In my opinion, the only part of the voiceover that was unnecessary was the beginning. This is because the character who's supposed to be listening to the narration should already know what he's being told. Therefore, the opening narration seems to be more of a crutch for the audience than a believable element of the story. (However, it does introduce some important themes, such as, "They took from their surroundings what was needed and made of it something more.")
Besides the very opening scene, however, I think the narration does more to enhance the film than to degrade it. It's not like it spoon feeds every conceivable answer one might have about what happened. Instead, I think that it actually raises more questions than it answers. (Especially because it's unclear how reliable the narrator is.)
Space tells matter how to move and matter tells space how to curve. -- Wheeler