Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I could leave it at that, but I probably should elaborate at least a little, being as this is the last post before 2010.
First the obvious: beautiful visuals, seriously (no really—SERIOUSLY) astounding technology. You will forget that what you are watching isn’t real, which I think ought to be the goal of any movie, heavily CGI’ed or otherwise.
Second: plot. Kudos to you, James Cameron. You got me to genuinely enjoy an admittedly cliché story. Sure, I could turn to Fern Gulley: The Last Rainforest or even (as a friend pointed out) Dances with Wolves for a similar narrative experience, but given the choice I would pick Avatar because it was entirely engaging through and through. I forgot about the cheesiness and just enjoyed the adventure.
Finally: hello grown-up use of 3-D! Thanks for not having random objects fly out of the screen toward my face. Tasteful and thoughtful interaction with human beings’ sense of depth perception.
Don’t wait for DVD—you really need to see this in theaters. Even if you don’t like it or it spurs you to launch your own phantasmagoria of complaints, it is an experience that you really mustn’t pass up.
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I'm posting as anonymous for what I'm about to admit: While watching Avatar on 3D Imax this evening, I fell asleep for 20 to 30 minutes. Now, I had been awake 16 hours already, and spent too much time Christmas shopping at the mall, and I tried really really hard not to fall asleep, in my defense. Also, 20-30 minutes of Avatar is the same as 10-15 minutes of an average-length movie.
ReplyDeleteYes I'm trying to justify all this because it really was fantastic (a clue to my identity of course). I'm too tired to write much more, but I agree with your review, especially about the realness and 3D. I'll certainly catch it on DVD to see what I missed (I fail).
fern gulley was one of the most disturbing movies that i saw as a child. right up there with ghostbusters 2. seriously scarred for life. lesson learned: as innocuous as any movie may seem, taking your child to go see it may be doing irrevocable damage to their psyche and mental well being.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the movie.
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ReplyDeleteAHHH OK, no wonder my comment didnt show up immediately!
ReplyDeleteselective censorship.....grrrrrrrr!
ReplyDeleteI second that you absolutely have to see it in theaters. In retrospect, the story itself was lacking in creativity, but the theater experience was something EXTRAORDINARY. Definitely worth the $16 it cost to see it in IMAX 3D. When I first saw the trailer, I thought it looked silly, like a video game. But in the theater, in 3D and on a HUMONGOUS screen, it really looked like a another world. Kudos James Cameron for bringing the magic back to cinema.
ReplyDeleteI finally saw it over the break.
ReplyDeleteI only half-agree with your review (and the other comments). Yes, the 3D visuals -- forget the 3D, just the animation of the sets! -- was frighteningly amazing, stunning, engrossing. I would recommend seeing it in theatres for sure.
In fact, at one point I took off the glasses and watched a bit without them (it's only slightly blurry, but the image is still intact), and without the glasses the film looks like your average bland sci-fi CGI picture. In fact, on a home television I would probably turn this film off in a few minutes. Makes sense, after all this is the traditional film industry's final bid for survival in the digital age of easy reproduction.
But the story itself was absolutely terrible! I have such a phantasmagoria of complaints against it that I don't know where to begin, and I won't get to everything here.
What I truly enjoyed was the look and feel of the alien world they created -- the atmosphere, the plants, the animal wildlife. The plot, however, was second-rate (I would expect something like this from a bad sequel). The writing was hackneyed and cheesy, especially the double layer of narration and voice-over.
The racial colonial stereotypes were tired and lame.
More importantly, as one of my friends pointed out (she saw the film with me), one could not escape the dreadful irony that a film about the dangers of modern late-capitalist technology and the importance of living organically with your planet was delivered to us through modern technology that simulates the natural world, and that was developed with partial funding from military operations. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
@Alla: I knew I could count on you for some debate!!! More time for a longer conversation later, but suffice it to say I shall engage you in argument on this one. :)
ReplyDeleteI purchased the home movie and had severe audio issues with it so I exchanged the movie and still had the same issue with it. I am very disappointed with it.
ReplyDelete