Avatar
Written by Action Andy on December 21, 2009
My reactions to this movie have me torn. I had the pleasure of seeing it in 3D “IMAX” in Navy Pier in Chicago opening night. The place was a mad house and this review could end up being a verbal barf on digital paper so let me start somewhere here… Ok. First off, lets begin with the promotion of this film.
No exact quotes come to mind but adjectives like “mind-blowing” and “revolutionary” are two I believe to be used. Let me say my initial reactions: Glorfied Fern Gully. That’s the first thing I thought after leaving the theatre. And sure enough, the first movie on IMDb’s list of recommendations is Fern Gully. The graphics and 3D representation are awesome to be sure but if you’ve seen Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3D, it conveys 3D immersion better. Avatar felt half 3D, half 2D throughout the whole movie. At points I wondered to myself why I was wearing silly glasses. During the action scenes things moved so fast I had no idea it was in 3D. It wasn’t until the action slowed to a near-halt that the 3D really popped out. In fact, the most wowed I was at the perception of dimension in this movie was when the embers from a fire were slowly falling. One actually had me jump in my seat it seemed so close to my face. I felt as if I could reach out my hand and catch one (why I had the urge to catch a falling ember is beyond me).
Now, lets not mistake my lack-luster reaction to the 3D for a lack-luster reaction to the graphics as a whole. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. The vibrant colors of Pandora and the Na’vi were incredible. In fact I’m gonna say right now I think it’ll win the Academy Award for best Visual Effects and be nominated for Art Direction. The immersion into the planet and culture was all there but really, the story was so-so at best.
Humans are on the planet for Unobtanium (what a lame name first off) and the richest deposit is under Hometree, the home of the Na’vi. So of course, the nature of Humans (namely Americans, which, of course, they were) comes out. “Who cares about anyone else as long as we get what we want.” A good social commentary. Continuing on, we are acquainted with Jake Sully, the crippled marine who controls the Avatar in an effort to get the Na’vi to move so the Marines aren’t forced to massacre them in order to get the Unobtanium. In his quest he falls in love and changes sides to protect the Na’vi and fight the onslaught of Marines. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. The story is given little thought in order to make way for blazing visuals and one hell of an immerse world.
The reason I get so worked up over the lack of a great story backbone is it shows no signs of care about the Human’s presence on the planet beyond Unobtanium and there is no description of what it is or why it’s needed. No back story to finding the planet. Everything seems to deal with the Na’vi and Pandora. The reason this comes as a blow is because this movie was on hold for so long to wait for the 3D technology to progress to an acceptable point for James Cameron. If that’s the case, there was plenty of time to really create more depth to the parts that needed it.
Moving along, I think both the live action acting and voice work was well done as well as the cinematography and direction. Avatar doesn’t fail in so many ways as it just disappoints. The hype way over-shoots this film. As a whole, it’s entertaining and fun but as a cinematic experience created by James Cameron, it really boils down to good eye candy.
But like I said, I’m torn. I want to see it again on another screen because it is beautiful and because part of Action Andy wants to love it with a “turned-off” brain. I also really want to see it in 2D in home theatre. I think it may actually turn out better that way. Either way, I give this movie a 3.5 out of 5 stars because I can’t justify grading a movie purely on eye candy in the same way I can’t justify giving Into the Blue a 5 out of 5 for constant shots of Jessica Alba’s ass as she dives into the water and swims. If you’ve got the time, go see it. It’s definitely worth the view at least once and probably much better in theatres (based on 3D) than it would be to rent it.
P.S. This movie made me realize two things. 1) Michelle Rodriguez can actually be hot some times! And 2) Sigourney Weaver can still be hot at her age.
