Wow. That really sums it up. Wow.
I know everyone is probably sick of hearing about Avatar, but we went to see it today, so you get to hear about it one more time. It reminds me of Terminator 2 and The Matrix, in that it took ideas that weren't really new and put them together in a new way with spectacular visuals to create something that feels ahead of its time. Remember when you saw the morphing effects in T2 or bullet time in The Matrix? These are old hat now, but at the time they were revolutionary, and they both changed the future of movies. That's how I felt leaving the theater today. I feel like I saw something special and that everyone else is going to spend the next few years trying to catch up or copy the style.
Was the plot the most original? No, not really. Some of it might even be cliched. You've probably heard some of the comparisons by now: It's Ferngully. It's Dances With Wolves. It's 90% of all undercover/spy movies ever. Those are all valid comparisons, but Cameron builds on these familiar themes, constructing a mille-feuille of layer after layer of world building, character, emotional investment and visuals far too stunning for me to even try to describe here. The end result is something pleasingly familiar, yet altogether foreign.
Yeah, "wow" pretty much describes it.
3 comments:
We're definitely going to see it, probably in the next couple of days when (hopefully) the hysteria has died down a little. The theaters have been packed around here lately. We saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday and were literally sardined in like sardines. Sort of ruined the experience for us.
Question for you though about Avatar: did you see it in 3D? We're trying to decide if it's worth it to drive farther to get to a 3D theater. Or just stay closer to home and see it au natural (so to speak).
I'd have to disagree a bit. The fact that it was completely unoriginal from stem to stern made it hard to watch. Like, I suppose it was interesting visually, but so are most new sci-fi movies.
I like nuance and drama in a film and Avatar gave me none of it. Every second - literally, every second - was as predictable as the one before it. They even ripped off the Hawk Men's surge from Flash Gordon. Why not have Tsu'tey say, "You want to live forever? Dive!"
Matt: We went at noon on the 24th and it was packed. We ended up in the lower section of the theater a lot closer to the screen than I usually like.
Yes, we did see it in 3D. It gave it a lot of depth that I thought helped feel realistic even if it obviously wasn't realistic at all. Of course, we didn't have to go very far to see it in 3D...
Maine: I know what you're saying. That's why I pointed out that the plot was somewhat cliched. Yeah, you always knew what was going to happen because it's what always happens. There are only so many times you can hear that someone started off spying, but now it's turned into something more before you come to expect it all the time. That's why I tried comparing it to things that looked and felt completely different than anything else before, rather than making the Star Wars comparison that so many other people have.
And I for one would have been glad to have them use Brian Blessed's speech from Flash Gordon. That would have been awesome.
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