Avatar - My Review

This one is for Amee (I know it's like a month after we all saw it, but I think I can still do an okay job on the review). So as implied I went to see the movie with life-long friend Amee, her husband Justin, and his friend who will remain nameless for reasons that will be revealed later. We saw it in 3D IMAX at the AMC at the Columbia Mall.

Let's start with the 3D, which was touted as being mind blowing. I think that may have been a little over-hyped. Now it may not have helped that I saw a 3D IMAX sometime in the last 3 or 4 years, and I'm betting it was similar technology used (I think the movie was an ocean thing with fish and shit). I will however concede that they did a pretty good job using the 3D appropriately to be epic in some parts, while more subtly used to add a stronger feeling that you were there in other parts. The biggest flaw to the 3D is that it looks terrible when out of focus, so if they focus on one person's face, but that face isn't taking up a large enough part of the screen, the stuff being 3D that is sort of in front of them but off to the side is really distracting.

So let's hit the story, and there will be spoilers. I'm gonna start with one right off the bat because I want to address what was relayed to me as Alex's first thought at the end of the movie. Amee passes down to me " said he thought it would have been more interesting if the aliens lost." My response was "that depends on who you are considering the aliens." As much as I like this guy from hanging out a few times watching football, I think his analysis is a little short-sighted. There was a very deep line no more than 30 seconds before the credits roll that had the main character narrate something like "the aliens were forced to return to their dying planet" and the line continues on. It took an extra split second for that to sink in, but it addresses his very thought, with my response of asking yourself who are the aliens. The Navi were native, which made the humans the aliens, but anyways.

The scenery is at minimal trippy, and at best stunning. There is certainly some creativity behind the creatures, vegetation, landscapes and so on. I'm gonna jump around some more, and go back to the plot now. I found it to be probably not the most mind-blowing plot, but the concepts of acceptance, harmony, and corporate greed keep things interesting. The future technology they've dreamed up is also very cool. The idea of sitting in a coffin-type structure and allowing your mind to control another body while in a sleep-state is pretty awesome. That being said, I actually liked a different technology concept a lot more (probably since I can envision this one just over the horizon). There is this moment where (I believe it was) Sigourney Weaver's character is using a computer, she then picks up a clipboard, puts her finger on the computer screen and drags the application window from the computer screen to the screen of this clipboard. The idea of dragging an application between linked devices is amazing. It's part-way there right now, but that's just an awesome thing to look forward to.

I feel like I didn't give a very traditional review, but that's partly because the plot wasn't fresh in my mind. I didn't mind that it was like 3 hours long, and despite going in a little skeptical, I came out a fan.

(Didn't reread for spelling and grammar)