Oh man this is going to be a hard review to write. Usually I like to wait until at least the next day after seeing a movie to review it, because I have a tendency to go all "fan-girl like" and freak out and start throwing the "OMG!'s" around everywhere throughout the review. So I literally just got home from seeing the midnight screening of Avatar in IMAX 3D, it's 3:47 AM, and I honestly don't feel like I can wait until the morning to write this, so bear with me. First of all, I just need to get this out there: Avatar was without a doubt one of the most incredible, stunning, film-going experiences of my entire life. The only time I have ever experienced anything even close to this was when I was 7 years old and saw Titanic in theaters for the very first time. James Cameron is a genius. Period. No one can argue any differently. I've heard people say he thinks he's "all that" and that he thinks he's just so much better than the rest. But here's the thing...he IS all that! He is the epitome of what a director should be. He doesn't allow himself to dream unless he's dreaming big. No, all movies aren't meant to be epics (and shouldn't be)...some of the best movies ever made are just regular character dramas. But when it comes to epics, James Cameron is it. His attention to detail is inexplicable...I don't know how to phrase it, its one of those things where you truly need to see it to understand exactly what I mean. As most people already know, he created the revolutionary motion-capture and 3D technology used for this movie. Even Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson came to his movie set to get a look at it. He meant for this film to come out around two years after Titanic, but soon realized that the technology at the time just was not where it needed to be to make the film the way he wanted to. Now, 12 years later, and his first movie since Titanic, and I can sense another Best Picture and Best Director oscar nomination nearby!
Avatar review!
Now to get back on track. THE GRAPHICS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS! A lot of people are going into the movie skeptical; "It's all hype", "I doubt it will be as good or groundbreaking as everyones saying". Let me be the first to tell you...THEY ARE! I'll even go as far as to say that they're better than the hype is making them out to be. I seriously could not believe my eyes, it was that breathtaking! I'll be honest, at first, the 3D and photorealistic CGI were getting the best of me...my mind wasn't allowing me to get fully engaged in the story like I wanted to, I just keep thinking: "this is unreal, this is UNREAL!" Because the graphics were really so so so beautiful. Words cannot describe. Once again, it's one of those things where you need to see it to believe it. But somewhere within that first hour mark, the story got so good, and so unique, that even my overactive brain was able to shut up and just be swept away by the story. This is what most people are even more skeptical and unsure about. I've heard more people than not say that they're seeing it only for the special effects, but that the story is unoriginal and stupid. I dare all the people that feel this way to give the movie a shot, because you WILL feel otherwise once the movie gets going. The character development was fantastic, and the creation of Pandora was even more amazing. While watching the movie, Pandora is what felt right. Anytime they cut away from the Na'vi people and avatars and cut back to the humans on the ship, it felt more unnatural to be with the humans than it did to be on Pandora (and believe me, you literally feel like you are actually on Pandora!). That's one of the main things that made me realize just how powerful this movie is.
The Motion Capture: OMG! I had read a lot about Cameron's new system beforehand, but I still wasn't fully prepared for how flawless it was. The way they were able to capture even the tiniest little facial expressions was just out of this world. It got to the point where you were no longer just looking at these 10 ft tall blue aliens....you related to them. They were humanized so perfectly that we were able to connect to them the way we would a regular human character, and thats pretty incredible. This was probably the most important thing that James Cameron achieve: because if we weren't able to feel for the Na'vi people and avatars the love story would have crashed and burned and the movie as a whole simply would not have worked. Also the acting was fantastic all around! Zoe Saldana very much brought Neytiri to life (she was, in my opinion, the best out of everyone), as did Sam Worthington for Jake Sully.
The only complaint I really have it that I wish the relationship/love story between Jake and Neytiri was a little more developed. But that's really the only thing. I can't think of anything else to criticize. Even the length was perfect. Usually I am not too big a fan of long movies, but Avatar, running at around 2 hours and 40 minutes, zoomed by as if it were only an hour and a half.
I highly recommend that everyone go see Avatar as soon as you can! And make sure you see it in 3D...I'm sure it's wonderful in 2D as well, but this is one of those movies where it will without a doubt reinvigorate your love for movies and the movie-going experience.
Grade: A
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