Avatar

[Dat]

Avatar is basically about a mining company who employ a gaggle of ex-marines. Having spent a few years trying to get the native na'vi people to give up their home on top of a large mineral deposit, they decide to genetically splice and clone a few na'vi bodies with scientists so that the scientists can jump into these 'avatars' and gain the natives' trust quicker by fitting in and showing integration. Through circumstance, the main character of Jake Sully (a marine) played by Sam Worthington ends up having to replace one of these scientists. He engages with the na'vi by learning how to be a warrior in their tribe whilst secretly trying to gain their trust and learn inside information for the destruction and removal of the tribe away from the deposit. Entirely foreseeable plot twists happen along the way reminding me of Ferngully back in '92.

Avatar is a pretty looking movie. The jungle vegetation is large and varied, the majority of it capable of a luminescent glow that lends the forest a whole new range of colours at night. The trouble is that i couldn't stop thinking that this place was a computer game or CGI and i found it hard to 'suspend my disbelief' due to  the exaggerated characteristics everything displayed. The military bases and vehicles on the other hand were a lot more 'familiar' and therefore for the most part believable. However, one vehicle i found proposterous because it seemed to fly but looked like it literally ate all the pies. - Everywhere. Lastly, the animals and na'vi (natives) were all extremely well designed and great to look at. Facial animations in particular were great at portaying actors' expressions and i didn't feel they gave any less a performance than flesh and blood.

As far as acting goes, i think all persons on screen gave a good performance. For me however, the best acting came from Zoe Saldaña as an emotional Neytiri and Stephen Lang's angry performance as the almost ridiculously hardcore main protagonist, Colonel Miles Quaritch.

Overall, the plot wasn't wholly inventive, but neither was it bad. The film looked great and the acting was good too. I was entertained for the whole 2hrs 40ms but it never blew me away. 8/10

[whitefire]

For me personally - this is the thin edge of a very large wedge,,,,

The 3D is more important than the movie to critics and many afficionados,

My personal gripe is the 3D - there is a much less slick version of the film on show but it only is shown at the cinema once for every 10 showings of the 3D movie. Now for 95% of you this won't be a problem, but there are quite a few of us who cannot -  for physical reasons - do the 3D thing, and the way the studios are bulldozing through the 3D cinema "revolution" makes a mockery of our various afflictions.

I took my kids to the cinema to see this movie. They and my wife could go and see the mainstream release. I wa shunted off to a crappy little side screen to watch the inferior version. I was so angry at my treaatment - as if I was a sub-human - that I could not even concentrate on the film.

The next time this shite happens to me I will shoot someone. Plain and simple. I demand to be treated the same as other people. Shunt me off and treat me like dirt and you will find that dirt gets in your face.

[EvilGinger]

Aprechiate the review DAT sounds to be an interesting but not necessarily genre changing film.

Sorry about the problem you have Whitefire I had no idea you had such rubbish eyesight or that the film was in 3d at all I should give it a miss then as my own wonderful blur tracking and identification system will have trouble if its in 3d if its the system I heard about on the radio a couple of months back.

Which cinema did you have the problem at so we can avoid the place & I hope you gave them a deservedly large calibre piece of your mind.

 ginger

[Dat]

I'm sorry to hear how you got treated Whitefire. I was born with a slightly off-centre eye and this meant i could never get the blue & red glasses to work in old 3d films.

The version of the film i saw with Morgalahan was non-3D, but i guess i wouldn't have been able to see the 3d version either.

[Snakes in the Tiki Lounge]

my eye related oddness is that one is the wrong shape, and likewise I do have trouble getting the old style glasses to work. (I can, but only for short stretches of time and without blinking).

Haven't seen the movie yet, and still plan to. I'll likely try the 3d just to see if it even works for me, to be honest.

It's kind of shocking that they shunted you off to one side, though. I mean, even if you can't get the 3d working properly, I'd have thought you'd be okay in the 3d screen, (though I imagine you'd still need the glasses, which is a bit of an extra tax, admittedly).

The whole 3d push is a bit on the gimicky side, I'd say, and I certainly share the scepticism reguarding it's promotion.

Good review though, Dat.

[Zarniwoop]

I'm sorry to hear about your mistreatment, and I do agree that the 3D push is a bit hard at the moment, the 3D Tax is certainly unwarranted if they want the technology to succeed they should make good movies making people want to watch it in 3D, not charge us extra so they do not have to make an effort..

All that said...


This movie is awesome, I watched it in 3D and I felt this to be the first movie I have seen that truly utilises the 3D to make you feel you are THERE in the movie, it felt truly immersive. Yes in the cold light of day after the film you can see some of the OTT Americanisms, but I loved every minute of it, the acting, the script the characters were all extremely well done and believable. The scenes with real/cgi mix looked seemless and I never once lost my sense of disbelief. I was left feeling truly moved by the plight of the natives.

The world, it surroundings, the mythology were all well thought out and worked to bring you into this alien world.

If only all movies spent as much time on working out the finer details, if this is the future of 3D movies then the technology has proved its worth and will just need to be improved to the point that more of the audience can make use of it.

It would be nice to see a film less American centric but the truth is that is where the money and the studios are for the most part so this will not change but as the technology becomes more mainstream and affordable then the smaller independents will be able to compete and imagine how much can be done..

I hope this film gets the box office it deserves so that the creative efforts of the people involved are justly rewarded and inspires them to produce more of the same quality.

I thought this was going to be another overhyped production line movie and boy was I blown away by how wrong I was.

Go see this film it is well worth the effort, I think this film will work without the 3D but it is certainly a unique experience with it, extremely immersive and the best I have ever seen.

[Oskar]

Well I must admit I was very impressed [and I don`t impress easy]
I have seen quite a few 3D movies and I have not been blown away by any of them to be honest, they all seem to just use the 3D effects to throw things at the audience, the films in general just don`t seem to have any depth, or it`s my eyes [they could be partly to blame]  anyway that can not be said about this film in my opinion, I admit I went prepared to be bored for a couple of hours and was very pleasantly surprised, once the story unfolded I was enthralled, it drew me in and I felt like I was there watching and not in a cinema.  All in all the effects were seamless and I thought it was great.  Looking forward to the next one.   


Oskar 
 

[Dat]

*SPOILER*
had to post this;

[JasonST]

This movie was the best when it comes to 3D. James Cameron has the used the 3D technology at a maximum level. I watched this movie 4 times. The movie was so perfect and the storyline was amazing.

If haven't watched this movie in 3D, you missed alot of action.

I cant wait until then sequel is out

[Dat]

Call me cycnical...among other things.

[PrettyOrchid]

This is the best movie of 2009 & 10. To be honest I must mention about the amazing graphics in 3D, really pull you into the story. Cameron has proved again his specialty by directing AVATAR. The movie makes you love and live among the characters. Everyone should go to the cinema and enjoy this movie. If you are going to see a movie this year it has to be this one.

[sweetgirl25]

I really enjoyed this movie. I have no words to explain about the great direction done by James Cameron. The 3D animation was so amusing. I watched the movie 3 times.