Avatar

Submitted by M Sly on Fri, 02/12/2010 - 03:08

Maybe I'm a month or so late on this, but I just saw Avatar. I wasn't trying to not see it, but things kept coming up and I just didn't care enough to make the effort (and drop the dollas), and I almost missed it. But then I realized that seeing it in any format other than the big screen in 3-d would defeat the purpose anyway, so I went two days ago.

I think the best way to review it is to sum up the arguments for and against it and weigh my thoughts on each of them.

Arguments for:

 

  • Looks awesome- have to concur. nobody has done 3-d that way or that well, and seamless cgi with live action. I think it is hands down the best visual effects movie to date.

 

That's basically the main argument for the movie. Nobody is saying the acting or plot is groundbreaking (see arguments against), but we can all agree that it was a sweet visual experience.

Arguments against:

 

  • Plot was a recycle of fern gully, dances with wolves, and pocahontas- Yeah, thats kind of true. But harry potter is lord of the rings is star wars. This may just be another one of the great american stories- white folk fuck some shit up, and in the process some of them identify with the victims and fight with them. its a feel good story for us white folk who have been doing that kind of stuff for centuries
  • too long/boring- eh, the visuals and action shots made it worth the length
  • bad acting- yeah, some of the acting wasn't great. i think this can be summed up by the G.I Joe general guy.

 

In summary, I actually liked it quite a bit. There are a lot of different types of movies out there, and this was a great example of a blockbuster/effects extravaganza that wasn't mindless or screen chewing (see Transformers). Action movies could take a cue from the attention to detail.

And sure, the visual effects outweighed the plot by a wide margin. But this was some pioneering technology. Someone is going to now take it, and do something crazy awesome with it and probably make the best movies ever made.

So, surprisingly, I give Avatar an A-. On a scale of a normal grading system. Where A's are kind of common, but you gotta earn em...

By the way, I have plans to watch a lot of movies in the coming weeks, so I'll be sure to review all of them to get a lot of posts in. That is all.