Ok, here goes, spoiler free review of Avatar and in point form:
- The 3d is incredible; Cameron really does use it to convey a sense of depth to most scenes, a job well done. Contrary to one of the posters above, I thought there were many jungle scenes where you see leaves/branches in the foreground and background, giving those scenes incredible depth.
- The CGI: at first, you can certainly see the CGI for what it is, artificial, but for whatever reason I just did not notice it at all after a while
- The motion capture: the facial expression really does convey an incredible sense that a human is acting out the CGI, as opposed to just CGI artists moving the lips, cheeks, etc. Well done.
- A few reviews have complained the story is pretty soso, or that it is formulaic. That may be true, but it didn’t bother any of us and although yes, we’ve seen this type of story before I’ll say: It was more than good enough and it did put together enough originality that it holds its own just fine.
- We were six, , we all said the same thing: amazing 3d, amazing movie, amazing experience.
Cameron is right, this is one movie that won’t be the same watching it at home, either because it’s a great movie and you just want to see it on a big screen, or because although some might feel it’s lacking in story, it has the best wow factor for the 3d alone (which may not work as well at home on current TV’s). Whatever the reason, I’ll leave that debate for others.
Box Office wise, I don’t think this movie can touch Titanic (not enough “romance” for the repeat girly viewers). However because of bozo’s like me saying “but you really have to see this in 3d Imax”, leading to people seeing it, then with them coming back with their friends, should lead to HUGE box office success. And rest assured, I WILL see it again. I’m not saying this movie beats any of your old favorites, but I will say its part of a select few as the best reason to see a movie in the theatre I can recall. When I got out of theatre, I had a similar feeling when I saw Star Wars for the first time: and we all know although that’s considered a classic, it’s not because it’s the best acted movie, with the best plot, or the best script or even the best direction. Rather, it’s because it brought something unique to the movie experience (believable fX), was spectacular and above all, was one of the most fun times one can have at the movies.