Avatar 2009
This movie had been out for a month or more, chewing up the box office, but I wanted to see it in 3D before it left (and in IMAX). It got a huge amount of hype even before it was out due to the incredibly high price tag. It seems like critics were lined up to laugh at the folly of making such an expensive movie that departed so much from conventional movies. Instead critics seemed amazed at the new world that had been created and the movie became a huge smash.
I still tried to keep my expectations low and find out as little as possible about the movie, but I knew some of the basics about the blue people before I went in. I also read about how the movie was made in CGI with the actors playing the parts, but the computer actually rendering everything (to some extent, it seems like some parts were still just actors in blue makeup).
I liked the 3D. I don’t think it is entirely necessary, but it is a neat touch. It probably resulted in there being a few more flying and racing through the jungle scenes than there would have been otherwise, which, again, doesn’t really add a lot to the movie, but fun to watch.
I also liked the story, though, at heart, this is a cowboys and indians movie in the same vein as Dances With Wolves. The movie has the feeling of being based on a book where the director had to choose to leave out a lot of parts to get the movie down to about two hours. I think that’s a good thing. They could have gone into a lot of detail and exposition, but instead they keep it fairly simple. There is still a lot of exposition just because they have to explain why people are on this other planet, how the avatars work, the natives, the history with the natives, etc. Some parts still don’t quite work out, like why the natives would go to so much trouble teaching a human about their culture. And I couldn’t help but wonder why the aliens couldn’t just drop logs into the rotors of the helicopters to stop them, but it is better not to ask questions and just be entertained.
So this is a good story, some very new things, but still also quite familiar. The story itself would have been kind of boring if it didn’t involve these blue people and the avatars. The very simple good vs. evil theme is a disservice to the intricacies of the rest of the movie, and most of the characters in this 3D extravaganza are pretty flat. I didn’t think all of the creatures worked either. For instance, there are some big bird like creatures with leathery wings so fake that they would have been at home in Jason and the Argonauts. This is still a good movie and a very good movie-watching experience. As such I think it barely ekes out an A-.
Written: 07 Mar 2010
Owned on: Digital