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Avatar: rants & raves
Sunday, January 3, 2010 1:43 PM
Finally had the chance to see Avatar, and some thoughts:
RAVES
-As anyone who's seen it will attest to, Avatar is 100% cinematic eye candy in the purest sense of the word. Cameron deserves an A+ for bringing the beautiful planet of Pandora to life
-Cameron also deserves credit for making CGI creatures that don't look so...CGI. The creatures of Pandora look and seem real, and there was never a moment where I felt distracted the by the obviousness of the CGI. Part of this was Cameron's ability to overcome the "dead eye syndrome" that we see in most CGI-heavy films
-Despite a lot of eggs obviously being placed in the special effects/CGI basket, the storyline didn't suffer as a result. Cameron seemed to put just as much effort into giving us a well-directed and enjoyable storyline, as he did with making it all seem so real (yes, I'm looking at you Lucas).
RANTS
-A new era of movie-making? The revolution of film as we know it? Sorry, but no. This film has definitely upped the special effects bar the same way that Matrix did with "bullet time," or that Cameron, himself, previously did with Terminator I and II. But, despite the hype, this isn't exactly like when moviedom changed from the silents to the "talkies," or from black-and-white to color. You gave us a good film, Mr. King of the World, but please try and give yourself an ego-check from time-to-time.
-I realize that PG-13 sells more tickets, but was all the cussing really that necessary? I'm no clean-mouthed prude, but I'm also a parent. And this is a kid's movie. And if anyone doubts what demographic/age group this was aimed for, I will simply point out what trailers were shown beforehand: Toy Story III, Shrek IV, and an upcoming Disney cartoon. Or go to a McDonalds and see what the theme of the latest Happy Meal campaign is. So why all the "shits" and "bitches" throughout? Completely unneccesary!
-*SPOILER ALERT!!!!* A minor gripe about the ending but what, exactly, were the Na'Vi thinking when they packed all the remaining humans up and sent them back to Earth?? I'm sure this will be the basis for the inevitable sequel, but the humans (who were just handed their asses to them) are merely going to go back to Earth, re-group, then return with a vengeance. Like I said, this is the set-up for Avatar II, I'm sure, but was still a pretty major story error, IMO. I think the Na'Vi would've been a lot smarter than that.
Oh, for sure! It will definitely cause a change, just like "bullet time" caused a change when The Matrix came out. But Cameron has been touting this as MUCH more than just a "change" in film-making. He's really been making it sound like Avatar will revolutionize movies as we know it.
Respond
Not sure if I agree with the new era yet, but if the new technology that Cameron created is used in most new films in the next several years I don't see how you can say it doesn't change. No it won't be as dramatic as b&w to colour but it still would cause a change.