Here's my take on Avatar:
Having been one of the last people on earth to see the movie, there’s not much more I can say that hasn’t been said before. The visuals are stunning, but the story is rather predictable. However, this film stands as one of the greatest accomplishments in recent cinematic history because it brought audiences back into the theater. It gave them a reason to buy a ticket, not to download the film online or wait for the DVD.
The more I think about the world Jim Cameron created, the more I'm amazed at how his crew was able to pull it off. It took 10 minutes or so to get used to what my eyes were seeing. Hopefully, this new wave of 3D films will warrant more directors and producers to insist on shooting in 3D rather than just transferring it afterwards. I haven’t seen Alice in Wonderland yet, but it appears that there is a real difference in how well the 3D affect comes across the screen.
With most of the talk surrounding visuals, I thought there were some rather convincing performances. Stephen Lang, played the A-typical Colonel Miles Quaritch with such force that it was easy to not like him, but very hard to not be intimated by his presence. I also enjoyed Sigourney Weaver, Dr. Grace Augustine, as the scientist who falls in love with her subjects, the Na’vi. Cameron does a great job of surrounding Pandora with a great supporting cast that helps make his reality believable.
Even though most of the audience knew how the story was going to end, I thought it worked well in keeping you entertained as you explored Pandora. I underestimated the amount of time given to the love story between Sam Worthington’s character, Jake Sulley, and Zoe Saldana’s princess of the Na’vi, Neytiri. The film’s other focus, eco-drama, doesn’t really kick in towards the third act, but is very successful in getting its point across.
The film that knocked The Titanic off of its pedestal is very deserving because of what it’s done to revitalize the moviegoing experience. It wasn’t the greatest film, but I’m definitely excited to go back to Pandora.
Grade: A-
