James Cameron's Avatar

[arjue]

Its not quite Fern Gully and its not quite District 9. Its a pretty by the numbers movie which looks like a cross between halo and panzer dragoon. It hits you over the head with its obvious green anti-war anti-capitalist message. The gay aliens are basically like native Americans and the humans are resource lusting invaders with no respect for nature or culture.

[Advocate]

Hmmm... to see this in a regular theater or imax?

If that's even a question. Don't even bother seeing this.

btw ... Real3D IMAX

[Dolemite]

Plot-wise, it was very predictable and unoriginal. But it was also a really good movie. The story was emotional and well-told and the design, detail and animation of the CG was super-impressive (especially the environments- holy shit). It really set a new bar, but it's not going to change the world or anything. For all the hype about how Avatar was going to change movies forever, in the end it's just another flick with pretty CG. Nothing more. It's the type of movie George Lucas would make if he gave a shit about story and character and not just getting to the next CG muppet.

Also, the human's army tech design was lifted straight out of Aliens. The robot suits looked like Loaders, the main attack craft looked just like the Drop Ship, etc. Since I loved the tech in Aliens, I was happy about that.

And the aliens were good, too. They looked gay as shit in the trailer but once you see them moving and acting for a while they really are beautiful, as are the other assorted creatures. I actually got worked up a little during the big battle scene.

Sam Worthington actually didn't suck. Maybe it was just because he was voice acting for a 12 foot Smurf for most of the movie, but I thought he didn't stink up the screen nearly as bad as he did in Terminator Salvation. Sigourney Weaver had a much bigger part than I thought, and she was great as usual. And I was psyched to hear Wes Studi voicing the alien leader (made sense, since the aliens are basically just like American Indians).

Anyway, Avatar is REAL long, but I didn't mind. Again, it doesn't live up to the insane hype, but nothing could. But it is a really good flick and I was glad to see Cameron didn't pull a Lucas on us. There was a little of the Titanic Cameron on display, but the Aliens Cameron was there too. I'm just happy the man is finally back.

[Cowutopia]

I love how everyone's like it's everything we thought but it's still really good! How does that work?

[Shin Johnpv]

Fuck performance/motion capture.

[aren]

The 3D looked really nice at times, but then at times it just looked whatever. Nothing groundbreaking or memorable. It was just good eye-candy for a little bit.

The story made it seem like a chick flick. Seriously, it was like 2 hours and 15 minutes of interaction between humans/humans, humans/aliens, and aliens/aliens with like 30 minutes of action. Cameron should've went with a R rating and just gone apeshit with blood and gore, with the alien animals bitting heads off and limbs getting chopped off. It was like a scifi Titantic.

If you're going to see it, see it in 3D IMAX. Hopefully that looks better than just plain 3D.

[Despair]

I am not sure if I will be able to see it this week

[Mr-K]

The one thing I heard about this movie was "I liked this better when it was called Dances with Wolves, and I don't really like that movie"

[Dolemite]

I love how everyone's like it's everything we thought but it's still really good! How does that work?

I know, it makes no sense. I mean, I've seen trailers for movies that suggested a completely different kind of film that what they were actually advertising- The Road comes right to mind. That flick was NOTHING like how the trailer painted it. But Avatar's faggotized trailer was pretty much spot-on at representing what the film was, and the film was actually good. Like I said, it takes actually seeing the movie itself and seeing the characters in motion and acting to get into it. Quick little trailer clips don't give you that at all.

BTW, the horrible Avatar theme song was nowhere to be heard. Maybe it played over the end credits, but after sitting there for 3 hours, once the movie was over I GTFO.

The one thing I heard about this movie was "I liked this better when it was called Dances with Wolves, and I don't really like that movie"

Avatar was totally Dances With Wolves. I was waiting for them to start calling the dude Tatanka or some shit. But take away suck-ass Kevin Costner and add sci-fi and space marines and it's a lot better.

Still, I'm not sure how it would hold up to a second viewing. The beautiful visuals certainly helped to keep your attention the first time around- after not really being all that wowed by 2012, I was beginning to think I had become completely jaded when it came to CG. But Avatar impressed the shit out of me. But are they enough too keep you busy for a second 3-hour go-around? Like I said, you know everything that's going to happen, so it's not like there's a detailed and complex plot to dissect. But like I said, the story is well-told and the aliend are super-expressive with their emotions, so that sort of sucks you in. I mean, Cameron could have gone for some retarded Metal Gear plot written by some Japanese virgin that makes no sense, but there's something to be said about a tried-and-true story told very solidly and backed by pretty visuals and some kick-ass action.

Anyway, my gf's out of town but when she gets back I'm going to take her to see it (she's a big Cameron/sci-fi fan too). I'm looking forward to how it'll be the second time around.

BTW, was Michelle Rodriguez's character related to Vasquez from Aliens?

[Mr-K]

I mean, Cameron could have gone for some retarded Metal Gear plot written by some Japanese virgin that makes no sense, but there's something to be said about a tried-and-true story told very solidly and backed by pretty visuals and some kick-ass action.

This is a silly notion. Original plots don't have to be a jumbled Kojima mess, and watching the same plot over and over again is dull. There needs to be substance to the spectacle, it seems like people forget this.

I might see this next week, I dunno