Avatar Review!
Saw Avatar tonight. BRILLIANT.
Here's a review. It's intentionally light on spoilers (and thus content, somewhat). I'm putting it behind a cut anyways, because I believe that it enhances the experience of epic movies to go in without too many expectations. See this Sheldon Cooper quote for more info.
Going into that theatre, the worst case scenario would still have resulted in an incredible movie. Even if the story was terrible, the visual effects would have made up for it. So, my initial expectations were good. Those expectations were far exceeded, and watching Avatar was both a visual and emotional treat.
The story itself is nothing terribly original. It's a tried-and-true plot, with familiar archeytypal characters. Nevertheless, it was well executed, and really tugged at the emotions. Maybe it was just the mood I was in, maybe it was just the power of the visual effects, but I became completely absorbed in the story and the world. My heart melted at the mushy parts, my fists clenched at the presence of the antagonist (I soooooo wanted to punch that guy), and yes... my eyes even watered a bit at the sad parts. Best of all it sparked a desire to improve humanity and stop people from destroying the planet and each other. That feeling of inspiration is hard to beat. The whole thing was actually sort of... spiritual.
Visually... I don't even know where to begin. This movie was supposed to be unlike anything we've ever seen before, and that's exactly what it was. I saw it in 3D at the IMAX in Calgary. I intend on going to see it at least twice more in Saskatoon. It won't be the same on DVD, so go now while you have the chance. It was visually epic. The only other movie that compares is LOTR. There's really nothing more I can say. It was beautiful. You lose a little bit of colour with the glasses, and they take some getting used to. Once you do though, you just get lost in the spectacle. Brilliant.
I'm really big on sound and music in films, but I'm sad to say I was too distracted by the rest of it to even notice. Definitely will pay more attention the next couple times.
I'm also very critical of sci-fi movies that attribute too many human/Earth characteristics to alien worlds. There was a bit of that in Avatar, but you could tell they tried very hard to make it original and realistic. However, this is a movie made for human audiences, so I can forgive the human-ness. It reached a satisfactory level of alienness.
Zoe Saldana (Uhura in the new Star Trek) and Sam Worthington (who was easily the highlight of Terminator: Salvation) were fantastic. I'd say they both exceeded my expectations (which were high to begin with). Will definitely be following both of their careers from now on.
Avatar is now very close to the top of my favourite movies ever. Perhaps I'm still just basking in the post-movie glow (after all, I also thought Star Wars Episode III was BRILLIANT right after seeing it *shudder*), but a few more viewings will help me decide just how truly good this film was. There was not a single second out of the 2 hours and 40 minutes that I did not enjoy (again, because even if the plot sucked, you could still just sit and enjoy the digital artistry). As the movie wound to a close, I wished it would just continue on and on. The audience APPLAUDED at the end. Wow.
In summary: This show is a MUST-SEE in theatre. Can't wait to see it again. Brilliant. Brilliant brilliant brilliant.
Here's a review. It's intentionally light on spoilers (and thus content, somewhat). I'm putting it behind a cut anyways, because I believe that it enhances the experience of epic movies to go in without too many expectations. See this Sheldon Cooper quote for more info.
Going into that theatre, the worst case scenario would still have resulted in an incredible movie. Even if the story was terrible, the visual effects would have made up for it. So, my initial expectations were good. Those expectations were far exceeded, and watching Avatar was both a visual and emotional treat.
The story itself is nothing terribly original. It's a tried-and-true plot, with familiar archeytypal characters. Nevertheless, it was well executed, and really tugged at the emotions. Maybe it was just the mood I was in, maybe it was just the power of the visual effects, but I became completely absorbed in the story and the world. My heart melted at the mushy parts, my fists clenched at the presence of the antagonist (I soooooo wanted to punch that guy), and yes... my eyes even watered a bit at the sad parts. Best of all it sparked a desire to improve humanity and stop people from destroying the planet and each other. That feeling of inspiration is hard to beat. The whole thing was actually sort of... spiritual.
Visually... I don't even know where to begin. This movie was supposed to be unlike anything we've ever seen before, and that's exactly what it was. I saw it in 3D at the IMAX in Calgary. I intend on going to see it at least twice more in Saskatoon. It won't be the same on DVD, so go now while you have the chance. It was visually epic. The only other movie that compares is LOTR. There's really nothing more I can say. It was beautiful. You lose a little bit of colour with the glasses, and they take some getting used to. Once you do though, you just get lost in the spectacle. Brilliant.
I'm really big on sound and music in films, but I'm sad to say I was too distracted by the rest of it to even notice. Definitely will pay more attention the next couple times.
I'm also very critical of sci-fi movies that attribute too many human/Earth characteristics to alien worlds. There was a bit of that in Avatar, but you could tell they tried very hard to make it original and realistic. However, this is a movie made for human audiences, so I can forgive the human-ness. It reached a satisfactory level of alienness.
Zoe Saldana (Uhura in the new Star Trek) and Sam Worthington (who was easily the highlight of Terminator: Salvation) were fantastic. I'd say they both exceeded my expectations (which were high to begin with). Will definitely be following both of their careers from now on.
Avatar is now very close to the top of my favourite movies ever. Perhaps I'm still just basking in the post-movie glow (after all, I also thought Star Wars Episode III was BRILLIANT right after seeing it *shudder*), but a few more viewings will help me decide just how truly good this film was. There was not a single second out of the 2 hours and 40 minutes that I did not enjoy (again, because even if the plot sucked, you could still just sit and enjoy the digital artistry). As the movie wound to a close, I wished it would just continue on and on. The audience APPLAUDED at the end. Wow.
In summary: This show is a MUST-SEE in theatre. Can't wait to see it again. Brilliant. Brilliant brilliant brilliant.