Avatar – THE Review
No spoilers here, don’t worry. Just an overview of the movie experience. And I’m not going to give you a rundown of the plot, which is in every other review on the planet. I’m not used to writing at 3 a.m., so ignore any typos! 
When you walk out of the theater, the first thing you’ll notice, is this world is pretty flat/dull/boring compared to THAT world. I couldn’t help but think James Cameron is playing God, and he invented a better universe. God can’t be happy right now.
Before I saw the actual movie, I wasn’t impressed with the previews. The “natives” just looked weird. And so much energy had been expended on the blue smurf natives that I was afraid James Cameron had shot himself in the foot. I thought for sure the natives would turn this movie into an Ishtar bomb. I decided that even though the previews weren’t impressive, I wanted to get out and see what $300 million and several years of work produced.
I also thought this movie was in development for so long, I was afraid it would end up being outdated and lose its futuristic edge. Not the case. The computers in the movie are basically a preview of how Macs and PCs will evolve over the next 10 years. Transparent, touchable, 3 times as wide and 1/8″ thick. Take note Apple.
I had expected the plot to be laughable. After all, Sci-Fi movies tend to focus on the visual. And in order to have a visual spectacle, you often need to twist the plot into a pretzel. The plot turned out to be, dare I say, pretty good! I expected to be irritated by the “green agenda” I’d heard from other reviews. Not the case. What you get is a remarkably sensitive portrayal of a beautiful ecosphere. The delicateness of a floating organism I’ve never seen, let alone dreamed, managed to get me choked up. How can this be topped I thought more than once.
This movie has heart. And if you think it won’t grab on to you, it will. The previews have left most women totally disinterested. After seeing it, I blame this on the marketing. It almost appears to be a female repellent. There were only maybe two women in the entire audience. It appears to be drawing almost exclusively younger men, and the women they drag along. I expect this movie to do better once women realize it has a soul.
I’m almost furious with the marketing of this movie. What you think you’ll get and what it delivers are completely different experiences. I think part of the impact is because of the flawless 3D. A blue avatar in a youtube video taken out of the context of the bright color throughout the film leads you to expect a smurf. A few days ago I thought, “If James Cameron had only made these avatars gray instead of blue, it would have had a bigger opening.” That was a miscalculation. In the context of everything else, it perfectly melds in this movie.
Other reviews said the music was a distraction. I thought a few times I was listening to a hint of Titanic, but I didn’t think once the music was a distraction. It fully supported the movie without being overwhelming.
The long running time isn’t a problem at all. There wasn’t a moment in this movie I lost interest. Literally, every minute from start to finish, I was completely, 100% captivated.
I did have one minute when I thought “Oh. This isn’t going to be that great.” The first minute of the movie. The camera pans over some scenery and I thought “Is this what I’m supposed to love?” It was a short-lived minute. You quickly start to feel like you’ve left not only planet Earth, but you’ve entered a parallel universe. Keep in mind, this was on a standard theater screen. Not even IMAX.
Complexity without feeling busy. You could look around in a scene and see several things happening at once. This is what $300 million will get you. You don’t just see something explode. You see six other things happening. Only a true crazy/insane/obsessive compulsive film director could bring this to reality.
The ending of this movie looked more like the beginning of the next movie. It seemed like a one-shot movie, but would it be possible Mr. Cameron wanted to give himself the option of Part 2 should he so desire?
I hope this movie starts to pick up more steam. It’s not like anything you’ve ever seen. How do you one-up this epic? I paid $10 for my ticket but would have paid a lot more. I confidently recommend this to everyone. It has to be seen in 3D at a movie theater.
