Avatar

[thegreatgonz]

I finally managed to get a chance to see Avatar (many thanks to omega697 and aardvark428 for watching Kael while we went). Regarding it as a movie, I find I really don't have a lot to add to what everyone else has said: it's visually spectacular (albeit more as a matter of craftsmanship than real artistry), and it's very competently shot and edited, with a few really

Comments

[triath]

I haven't seen it, but based on everyone's reviews, I was kinda surprised by it winning the Golden Globe.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

[dragonmudd]

In what format did you see it?

[thegreatgonz]

Non-IMAX 3D. I'll have more to say about that in the next post.

[dragonmudd]

So, I've only seen it in IMAX 3D, but from that I felt like the IMAX was more important to the viewing experience than the 3D. I certainly agree about all the plot elements, but the plot elements had zero weight in my evaluation of the movie, and I (and my parents) were still blown away by it. In their words "I haven't felt like that after coming out of a movie since the first Star Wars".

[omega697]

Whatever points they gained from whatever else they did, they blew them all with "Unobtainium".

[thegreatgonz]

Seriously. It was derivative (The Core has the same joke) and completely out of keeping with the otherwise self-serious tone of the movie.

[dragonmudd]

Yeah... at first I was hoping they were just using that as slang... but eventually I realized I just needed to turn off my brain and look at the pretty.

[zixi]

So do you recommend it?

I first heard of it through people complaining about it - the standard white colonialism story and the fruffy natives and all the poorly handled race issues on screen again. And then I saw conservatives screaming about it being anti-military and pro-environment. And then I had a good laugh that both conservatives and liberals were up in arms over it.

And I've had a number of people tell me I should see it - all people who know I tend to like sci-fi/fantasy and are not overly familiar with the genre and not very critical of the media they consume. Only most of the people who share my critical eye have been unimpressed. But I've been told it's worth seeing in 3-D just for the pretty, which will only happen in theaters.

So...do you recommend seeing it? Assuming I know I need to turn my brain off?

[thegreatgonz]

By conventional epic/action/sci-fi/FX movie standards, it's well worth seeing, just not as great as all the rapturous buzz makes it out to be (It's probably better than any of the Star Wars prequels, for whatever that's worth). If eye candy is your thing, it's probably worth catching in theaters.

The 3D will not only be happening in theaters: Avatar is going to be the flagship for the new Blu-Ray 3D format, which was just announced and will be in stores by summer, so if you have any home-theater geek friends, you have a pretty good chance of being able to catch it in 3D. In fact, in some ways home-theater 3D is likely to be better than cinema 3D, basically because the glasses are better. I'll have more to say about the 3D angle in my next post.

[zixi]

Hm. I have a feeling it's something that I might enjoy but think wasn't quite worse the steep price of movie tickets these days and I should use my limited theater-going ability to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus instead, which actually looks good.

And, um, I think *you* would be my home-theater geek friend :)
I'm still a bit weirded out that I'm living somewhere where I have a dvd-viewing option which isn't my computer.

[dragonmudd]

Keep in mind that the 3D format requires a special television as well. I haven't followed too closely, but as of right before the movie came out the options for televisions that support the 3D technology were like a hojillion dollars and there weren't many to choose from... like maybe only two.

[bobbzman]

"I will say, though, that for the cultural and material inheritors of those who relocated and nearly exterminated the Native Americans to turn around and rewrite that history with a happy ending for mass entertainment is a little ... unseemly."

I also find it strange that, in a world where rainforests are destroyed to raise cattle, a movie demonizing the destruction of rainforests is sponsored by McDonalds.

It's interesting that you bring up the Star Wars prequels. My reaction to Avatar was "People shot down Star Wars so badly, and then praised THIS to hell?! Seriously?!"

[thegreatgonz]

I try not to hold merchandising against the movies that it supports, but that's a good point.

As I said to zixi, I actually think Avatar was better than the Star Wars prequels, but not by much. I agree the disparity in how they've been received is absurd (my guess is Avatar has the benefit of not having legions of childhood memories to live up to).