Impressions: "Avatar"
I have been looking forward to seeing "Avatar" for some time. I admit I have been thoroughly caught up in the hype, so I fought through the crowds this Sunday to finally check it out (all in glorious 3D).
Going in, I had some preconcieved notions. First, I was expecting eye-popping, jaw-dropping visual effects. Second, I was expecting a tree-hugging story, with the bad humans destroying the beautiful world of the natives.
The effects were indeed gorgeous. In fact, I think they were so good that I found myself trying to determine what was CGI (answer, almost everything) and what was really filmed. The best part of the movie was the immersion that the graphics enabled. When a helicopter landed on the screen, grass near the edges of the screen were buffeted in and out of your view. The computer displays within the base were curved screens of awesomeness. All of the data, displayed in perfect perspective, in 3D - and it seemed perfectly natural within the scene. I kept thinking "this is seamless".
Most reviewers seem to agree with me on that point - everyone thinks the movie looks great!
The story, however, has engendered differing viewpoints. The official FilmFodder review, by Brian Orndorf, states:
“'Avatar' is a tremendous disappointment...It’s tough to shake the thought that after 12 years of dormancy, this is the script James Cameron came up with? All the ornate animation and 3-D trickery can hardly hide that fact that “Avatar” is a hollow, coldly executed misfire."
On the other side of the coin is Harry Knowles of Aint It Cool News, who beams:
"AVATAR is unlike anything I’ve seen before, it is a story of heroes, human greed, cultural discovery and a dream of human accomplishment that I have wished my whole life that we as a society would pursue."
I am not likely to fall to either of these extremes when reviewing a movie. I must admit that I am genetically predisposed to dislike plots that cast us humans as the bad guy. (We're really not that bad!) But, in this case, I have to side with Harry. I *liked* the story.
Sure, the villianous humans employed by the faceless corporation were very one dimensional. Giovanni Ribisi's character, in particular, seemed almost cartoonish. But, the simplicity of those characters was effective in creating dislike for them. Far more time was spent on developing the relationship between Jake Sully and the Na'vi natives. The ceremonies of the Na'Vi, in particular, were moving and appropriate (especially the simple ceremony where they welcome Jake as one of them - very powerful).
When the time came Jake to choose sides, it was already evident where he was going. And, since it was an evil corporation, rather than "Evil Americans" in the portrayal, somehow I was all on-board.
"Avatar" is a huge leap forward in movie creation technology. The story was strong enough to keep me interested, and to allow the CGI to keep me immersed in the story. One could say that the story and CGI worked together just as Pandora's ecosystem was interconnected.
But, that might be going too far. Let's just say that the movie is absolutely worth seeing at the cinema. I give it a solid "A".
