blue people with ponytails

I finally saw Avatar last night - Friday, February 5th to be exact - with a friend, and in 3-D. I had received numerous and disparate reviews from many friends, in addition to those I had read, and entered the theatre without a strong expectation that I would enjoy the movie or not - though based on which of my friends said they liked it and which did not, I was leaning towards the enjoyment side. At the conclusion of the three hours, which I by the way feel is a great length for any movie attempting to unfold an epic tale, I left the theatre uttering just one word...

Amazing.

Avatar is an amazing film. First, it is visually stunning. The filmmakers did a masterful job of bringing the world, or I guess moon, of Pandora and the Na'vi people to life. The 3-D experience really adds to this. At first it's kinda strange, but after wearing the glasses for about 15 or 20 minutes you seem to forget that they're on the brim of your nose. The effect is that you feel immersed in the jungle/forest alongside Jake Sully. The colors are incredible and the overall presentation reinforces the theme that the destruction of nature's beauty is indeed a heinous offense.

James Cameron's vision for Pandora and its inhabitants is flawless and breathtaking. The attention to detail, including the creation of a unique language for the Na'vi people, is overwhelmingly impressive. I also thought the technology in the film effectively matched its fictional setting. The paper-thin and portable screens and the interactive 3-D maps are believable advances in time. However, the military equipment and weaponry is disappointing. It looks like something appropriate for a movie set in 2004, not 2154. This didn't bother me significantly during the movie, but I do fear it will negatively impact its rewatchability over time.

The story Avatar tells is certainly not unique. It's a timeless struggle of the preservation of nature and its simplicity versus the destructive self-interests of man, and its retelling is eloquent and gripping. The film definitely pulled me in and made me a part of the conflict as it played before me, and I was consequently surprised James Cameron didn't go for the jugular in its climactic moments. Honestly, I was expecting the ending to be more sorrowful, with either Jake Sully or Neytiri giving their lives to save the other and/or their people. I'm inclined to think that the film's impact may have been greater had something along these lines occurred, but it was a powerful movie that made a lasting impression nonetheless.

I wasn't feeling good about Avatar's cast as the movie began. I'm not a big Sigourney Weaver fan and thought that more experienced or known actors might be needed to bring the appropriate altitude to the roles occupied by Sam Worthington and Stephen Lang. However, by the end of the film I was sold. Lang effectively made us hate him and Worthington's boyish, blue-collar-ish charm wound up being perfect for that role - though I do still wonder what it would have been like with Dicaprio. Oh, and Zoe Saldana is brilliant.

Overall, Avatar was an exceptional movie - not life changing and in my opinion not as good as Up In The Air, but definitely excellent and worthy of being the highest selling or grossing or whatever it is movie of all time. Anyway, no real important reason for this post, just since everyone else seems to have a strong opinion on Avatar I thought I'd chime in.