Dances With Smurfs
So I saw Avatar yesterday. It was actually pretty good.
Okay, bad things first so I can rave later. The story's basically Ferngully and Dances with Wolves smushed together IN SPACE (well, on a moon called Pandora), and gets rather preachy about how the Na'vi (the aliens) are so SPECIAL and AWESOME because they're connected with nature and how humans SUCK (which kind of rubs the wrong way on the predominantly human audience). It's basically the old 'noble savage' concept IN SPACE.
Oh, and Sam Worthington can't keep a consistent American accent.
Also, did we really need to see Na'Vi mating rites? Seriously, while I was expecting to see something along those lines (because romances on film must seemingly always involve sex, for some reason), I really did not want to.
But the bad parts are pretty much compensated for in spades by the sheer spectacle of the whole thing. The visual effects are amazing, not only for merging CGI and live-action with no obvious seam between them, but also for creating the incredibly emotive Na'Vi. They clear the uncanny valley (essentially, when a CGI person is too realistic, lacking subtle facial expressions and creeping out the audience) and thus manage to feel like actual beings. The whole world has this realistic feel as well, despite being a alien planet with biolumniscent plants and six-legged horse creatures which have their nostrils on their chests. It's kind of like an extraterrestrial anthropology study.
And then there's the finale, which is basically the entire reason to see the film, and a very good reason to go see it at IMAX like I did, being lucky enough to live in a city which has one. Most of the film is pretty good, however the final battle skyrockets into seriously epic territory, involving a huge aerial battle between helicopters and flying pterodactyl aliens, as well as several Crowning Moments Of Awesome for most of the cast (Trudy the snarky helicopter pilot especially), one of the villains, and the entire ecosystem of Pandora.
I saw it in 3D, which only became noticeble in certain bits of the film. This may have been due to my seat being close to the screen (yay for crowded houses and seat allocation ticket bookings). Apparently it's better towards the middle of the seat rows.
In closing: While this film is not perfect, it is certainly an epic, at the very least in terms of the special effects. Oh, and the final battle is basically the most epic thing I've seen since Gurren Lagann.
Okay, bad things first so I can rave later. The story's basically Ferngully and Dances with Wolves smushed together IN SPACE (well, on a moon called Pandora), and gets rather preachy about how the Na'vi (the aliens) are so SPECIAL and AWESOME because they're connected with nature and how humans SUCK (which kind of rubs the wrong way on the predominantly human audience). It's basically the old 'noble savage' concept IN SPACE.
Oh, and Sam Worthington can't keep a consistent American accent.
Also, did we really need to see Na'Vi mating rites? Seriously, while I was expecting to see something along those lines (because romances on film must seemingly always involve sex, for some reason), I really did not want to.
But the bad parts are pretty much compensated for in spades by the sheer spectacle of the whole thing. The visual effects are amazing, not only for merging CGI and live-action with no obvious seam between them, but also for creating the incredibly emotive Na'Vi. They clear the uncanny valley (essentially, when a CGI person is too realistic, lacking subtle facial expressions and creeping out the audience) and thus manage to feel like actual beings. The whole world has this realistic feel as well, despite being a alien planet with biolumniscent plants and six-legged horse creatures which have their nostrils on their chests. It's kind of like an extraterrestrial anthropology study.
And then there's the finale, which is basically the entire reason to see the film, and a very good reason to go see it at IMAX like I did, being lucky enough to live in a city which has one. Most of the film is pretty good, however the final battle skyrockets into seriously epic territory, involving a huge aerial battle between helicopters and flying pterodactyl aliens, as well as several Crowning Moments Of Awesome for most of the cast (Trudy the snarky helicopter pilot especially), one of the villains, and the entire ecosystem of Pandora.
I saw it in 3D, which only became noticeble in certain bits of the film. This may have been due to my seat being close to the screen (yay for crowded houses and seat allocation ticket bookings). Apparently it's better towards the middle of the seat rows.
In closing: While this film is not perfect, it is certainly an epic, at the very least in terms of the special effects. Oh, and the final battle is basically the most epic thing I've seen since Gurren Lagann.