Good lord, I've never felt so overwhelmed by a movie.
Obviously, this is the greatest CGI ever pulled off. The CG and real world stuff feel like one consistent reality. On the other hand, I'm still not quite sure it's photo realistic. Some shots did feel photo realistic, and they contrasted with the ones that didn't.
But what makes the CG ultimately work so well is two-fold. It is legitimately visionary. This isn't George Lucas coming up with new action figures. Pandora felt like a real place. The other thing is the scale. The Star Wars movies and the new Transformers movies are just so out of control with what they do. Avatar has a lot of huge moments, but they never get so absurd that they're incomprehensible.
As for the 3D. Amazing. Some shots are better than others, but, again, it all blends into a consistent overall experience. There were moments where I had to remind myself I wasn't really looking at a table. Yeah, some of the shots were that good. I still don't know what I think of 3D, but Cameron makes a convincing argument.
Of course, as always, movies boil down to story. How does Avatar do? Well, it's kinda complicated.
Anyone who calls the story weak or something like that is seriously wrong and needs to avoid talking about movies. By any objective measure, this is a very good story.
But here's the thing, this isn't any other movie. This is the most expensive film ever made. When you're watching the most expensive film ever made, you story feels like it should be the greatest story ever told on film. And I just can't say that about Avatar. The Dark Knight, for its flaws, is a story worthy of being the second-highest grossing film of all time.
But if I can get into some spoiler territory for a moment, it's break down the story for Avatar. Guy gets to go on cool mission purely through chance. Guy has a special place in the hearts of his human masters. Guy falls in with the native tribe. He bounces between his tribe and his military masters, learning the culture of the native tribe. The guy falls in love with a woman from the native tribe. Eventually, the human masters attack the natives. The guy tries telling the natives to leave, but they don't listen and now think he's a traitor, even though they just accepted him. The humans destroy their home. The guy does something crazy to get back in with the natives. He leads them to attack the human base. The humans decide to preemptively attack one of their holy spots. Big battle ensues, natives win. Humans are evicted from Pandora.
Is this a good story well told? Yes. But is it as good as the stories for movies like The Godfather, The Dark Knight, or Groundhog Day? Well, eh. I hate to say this, but no.
And that's why I have a hard time digesting this movie. Terminator 2 had a story that was profound. I don't even know why, but it just was. With The Dark Knight, I immediately and viscerally knew that it was one of the greatest movies I've ever seen.
Anyone who says Avatar isn't a good movie - again, please don't talk. Nobody likes a hater. But, ultimately, I don't think more money, time, effort, and vision have ever been put into a film. It's a shame all that time and effort couln't have been spent on a five star story instead of a four star story.
Topic: Avatar (Read 173796 times)
