The Freak's Rating: A : By the time this review reaches you, you will be one of two classes of people...those who have seen Avatar and those who want to. Though I'm sure there is a minor percentage of people on the planet who could care less, we'll figure they wouldn't have even ventured on here to read my review :). 15 years ago James Cameron came up with the idea for Avatar. In his own words, "the technology didn't exist, so we created it".
James Cameron has always been a wonderful storyteller, allbeit one full of cliche's with his writing. There is dialogue in Avatar that is laughable, without question. Recently a friend brought up the point that Avatar is unoriginal with its story and characters. He is correct, though I'd argue the Navi are some of the most interesting characters in years. The seven basic plots of film are: man vs man, man vs nature, man vs the environment, man vs machines, man vs supernatural, man vs self and man vs God. All films fit somewhere into at least one of these categories. The better films encompass a few of them. Avatar easily is a tale of man vs man, man vs the environment, man vs supernatural and man vs self, telling four of the scenarios. So yes, though the dialogue is at times cheesy and some characters less interesting than others in film. Yes, the storyline has some flaws and some predictability (as I'd argue 90% of films do), but you must weigh the good with the bad of the film...and I proceed.
Acting is superb by Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. With all of her work coming off-camera, 100% of it motion captured, it is amazing she can pull off the emotion she does with the character. Sam Worthington (action hero of the hour in Hollywood) is adequate as Jake Sully and only when he dons the Avatar does he remind you of the CGI you are watching. Sigourney Weaver has the same problem. Unlike other ventures into CGI such as A Christmas Carol, Avatar does a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life, especially with their eyes. The only time there is a lag in believability is when characters who have Avatar bodies show up on screen. My theory is that they aren't as believable because in your mind you know them as human and therefore look for the artificial traits of the CGI in their Avatar.
We now arrive at the film's true beauty, its visual snake charmer style of putting the audience into a trance. Once in the Avatar's point of view, you are completely involved in that world. When flipping to the human world, I found myself wanting to go back. Even now, a day after I screened the film, I want to return. Once inside it, the magic of the people and flat out amazing scenery keep you in a daze of amazement. Scenes where human and the Navi interact are beautifully put together and the final half hour of the film simply floored me. The ability of the filmmaker to do this with an audience is what truly makes Avatar a film to be reckoned with at the box office.
With music by James Horner (same composer as Titanic), fantastic performances by many of the Navi, interesting storylines (though not 100% original) and CGI that truly sets the bar, Avatar is a must-own, must-see again film. Going to the movies is escapism and if you can't get lost in this one, I'd be shocked. I've already planned my second viewing in the theater and would be surprised if there isn't a third in my future. It is everything you want in a movie, a true trip from everyday reality into a different world, one that (if you're like me) you'll think about long after the credits roll
Doug's Rating: A : I'm going to agree with the Freak on Avatar. The movie was visually stunning. The world of Pandora was believable. I was amazed by the creativity that went into creating the world from the Navi to the animals to the plant life. The colors were brilliant and I can't wait to see it on Blu-ray. The CGI is believable. I heard people walking out asking if the Navi were real people in blue suits or if they were computer generated. The best and the worst of humanity is portrayed in the film and this clash between greed and sacrifice plays itself out on the home of the Navi. My main complaint in the film are the bad guys. Its easy to make a lovable hero, but hard to make a make a bad guy you love to hate. The bad guy in Avatar was over done. However, this didn't significantly detract from the enjoyment of the film. There were moments to laugh, to cry and many moments to sit back and say wow!
Chris's Rating: A+ : I saw this movie on a Friday night, and I had two main reactions about 5 minutes into this film. The first was that the visuals were really good, and they only improved as the film went on. The second was "Oh my God, I want to see this again".
There was one thing that I didn't like, though. That would be the fact that I didn't see it in 3D--but it was still pretty freakin' awesome.
The storyline(s), although panned by some critics as cliche at points, was nevertheless captivating, at least to me. This is the first James Cameron film I've seen, and I fully intend to watch other films by him over the holidays.
I, like Jake Sully, found myself siding with the Na'vi as the movie went on. Also, the longer the movie went, the more and more Quaritch shot up my list of evil movie villains.
The battle scenes were everything I expected them to be. In fact, the whole movie was. The expectations were high for a film that was nearly three hours long and three hundred million dollars in the making, and Avatar delivered.
In fact, I'm still trying to decide, twenty-four hours later, whether or not it's the best movie I've ever seen. It's at least in the top two.
David's Rating: A : Awesome movie. Highly recommend.
IMAX 3D ROCKS!!!!!
If you haven't seen in IMAX, see it again
Nate's Rating: C : "C" means OK movie, won't recommend, but glad I saw. That pretty much fits Avatar. I'm glad I saw it because if I hadn't, I'd be constantly wondering what all the ruckus was about. Now I know -- it's about pretty pictures, and that's all.
Cameron said he first got the idea when he was a teenager. And it's pretty much the kind of movie you'd expect from a teenage boy -- especially a hopelessly romantic morose wannabe writer who just got done seeing Dances With Wolves and wants to make a movie just like that, but in "the future".
What's kind of interesting is that Scott and I pretty much agree about what's good and what's not. The difference is he gives a lot more weight to the visuals (like, a LOT more), and for some reason finds the aliens interesting.
But, for what it's worth, the visuals are pretty much perfect. The CGI is flawless, Pandora is beautiful, and the CGI characters can actually emote now. No more wooden "uncanny valley" (special prize if you know what I'm referring to) moments. They are completely believable. The acting is actually pretty good, too. And the 3d is just flat out amazing. The writing is another matter.
Ok, Jock Prettyboy gets the good luck of being chosen to replace his brainy nerdy brother as an Avatar driver because his genetic code matches some pseudo-science babble and because jocks are easier for meathead audiences to relate to than nerds. From that point on, would it be spoiling it too much to say you could just rent Dances With Wolves, imagine that all the natives are blue, and that it sucks, and you'd pretty much have Avatar?
Cameron wasted absolutely no time in trying to come up with motives for his characters. The Company wants to mine The Rock so it can make a profit. Kind of like a movie studio. The Aliens are morally perfect and are one with nature, like any new age yuppie considers himself to be. And The Military wants to shoot the aliens because James Cameron couldn't think of anything else a big, icky, meany, army person would ever want to do. Really. That's it. And it never gets any better.
But if the motives in a film are going to be stale, then at least the action can distract the audience enough not to notice. But not in Avatar. Big high-tech military (who don't use any unmanned drones, btw, like, say, we use *today*, but do use oversized exoskeletons like the ones that were done to death in the Matrix movies and in exactly half of all anime films ever) fights with primitive superhuman aliens and there is almost no dialogue about tactics. One line Hero Jock says about "they're instruments won't work here because of blahblah", and that's it. Which, by the way, we never get to see actually happen. One guy's screen gets a little fuzzy, that's it.
Well, maybe the buildup can be exciting? No, it can't. Hero Jock's rah rah speech at the end is the weakest I've ever heard. And for some reason "uniting the clans" is supposed to be something special, even though they have no reason not to get along, since they're all peace-loving and morally pure. And live just within two cutscenes of each other. But now I'm nitpicking.
I was bored because Cameron was so eager to show off his new cameras that he didn't give a second thought to how real people would act or react in that situation. He missed all the real potential of his own setting. There is no hint of any artistic insight into human nature (don't filmmakers consider themselves to be artists?). Everything is functionally perfect but completely soulless. Like an all-robotic choir. Every tune perfect, every piece engineered flawlessly, but lacking the capability to even make eye contact with its audience.
Brian's Rating: B+ : This is a hard movie to review. It is ground-breaking.... clearly. A pinnacle that will be forever measured when future film fans look back on what films broke new ground in such a huge way as to be an anchor in the industry. Jurassic Park, Matrix, and T2 are put in this same category. Nothing will every take away from the fact that this was the first movie to use augmented reality when shooting the film, and do so in such a huge way as to be clearly dominant over every other form of CGI virtual reality. Any producer who is has a film on in post processing that is heavy on the CGI just said, "Oh Crap!".
The problem is, I also agree with Nate. If you strip away the pretty graphix, the movie is simply not emotionally captivating. It has many flaws, and simply could have been written better. Since I am reviewing the entire movie, and not just its place in history, its not even worth an A. In fact, I was leaning toward giving this a B- or B mulling over my thoughts from the first viewing with Scott in 3D.
3D is a distraction. I should have never seen it in this mode initially, the movie was much better when I saw it again in 2D. I realize I am a minority on this, but its my review. 2D is much less distracting, and much easier to become involved in the story, and imagine myself in the world. 3D is an effect, but its a bad one. I never adds to a movie in my opinion. So after giving it another shot in 2D, I decided I should not hold the 3D nature of this against the movie, and increased my rating.
I do not need to delve into the problems the writing has since Nate already covered most of them. I will highlight his criticism of the military leader. I agree completely that I am entirely sick of this brainless, school-boy bully stereotype that has cloudy motivations that are mostly irrational.
So its a little odd, in that I am saying everybody needs to see this movie even though its not nearly as awesome as Inglorius Basterds. You need to see this movie simply to experience the eye candy. If ever you should see something on the big screen, this is it. If you want my advice avoid the 3D and catch a 2D digital version instead. I would love to see this in IMAX if they actually play it somewhere without forcing 3D on you.
Angie's Rating: A : Great film and cool technology, but I have seen this one before... it's a combination of Fern Gully and Dances with Wolves. Kind of a let down in the story.
The Shou's Rating: C+ : I completely agree with Nate except I believe that it is a C+.
Avatar is visually the best film ever made, and will be for some time or until a sequel is made. But this isn't enough to give it an A. For an a there needs to be a decent story, lovable character and great scripting. Unfortunately it doesn't deliver, the story is stereotypical and bland and has nothing really special about it. The characters aren't really unique in any way: The soldier who at the start is sent to fulfil a mission but then lets his heart get in the way of things; the girl who is hostile towards the soldier as he is human but eventually falls in love with him; and of course the hard-nutted soldier who lives to fulfil orders and now nothing of something called 'feelings'. These types of characters aren't anything we haven't seen before.
The scripting is just as corny, having no memorable or decent quotes in the whole thing.
Overall the film is visually spectacular but is quite boring at times, corny and grabs a moral (racism or being different) and beats it to death with a shocking story.
