Saw it in 3d this morning. I was actually expecting the worst, because I get annoyed at hype and Cameron seemed pretty obnoxious in interviews I saw about this movie.
The CGI is indeed very good, and I suppose they managed to avoid the Uncanny Valley effect because of the Na'avi's inherent alien-ness. So no trouble with suspension of disbelief. The world was quite beautiful, and the wildlife nicely rendered. But I'm sorry, and this may be a personal failing, but I really did not get the whole "this is a living breathing ecosystem" vibe from this movie any more than I did from Ice Age 3. Which admittedly uses a real-ish ecosystem as its backdrop, but you get my point. So you have rhinoceroses and wild dogs and horses and pterodactyls (and big pterodactyls). I don't see the importance of knowing what the dogs eat or where the bugs nest or how the trees grow. They don't really elaborate on it in the movie, and I don't really care.
So sorry if I sound negative - I actually think the SFX are great, although on my part as long as you avoid the characters looking Final Fantasy - creepy, I'm happy. So I can't really tell if this is so much better.
My main problem is with the plot - this movie has basically been done before, multiple times. From Pocahontas to the Last Samurai with some Dances with Wolves mixed in, it is cliched beyond the point of cliche. At least the acting was good enough to make me buy it - which I suppose is a testament to the quality of the mo-cap CGI performances.
In the end I got a solid, action-packed, fun movie which I really enjoyed, and the 2h30+ length seemed to zip by. But it hardly reinvents the world of movies as we know it.
The CGI is indeed very good, and I suppose they managed to avoid the Uncanny Valley effect because of the Na'avi's inherent alien-ness. So no trouble with suspension of disbelief. The world was quite beautiful, and the wildlife nicely rendered. But I'm sorry, and this may be a personal failing, but I really did not get the whole "this is a living breathing ecosystem" vibe from this movie any more than I did from Ice Age 3. Which admittedly uses a real-ish ecosystem as its backdrop, but you get my point. So you have rhinoceroses and wild dogs and horses and pterodactyls (and big pterodactyls). I don't see the importance of knowing what the dogs eat or where the bugs nest or how the trees grow. They don't really elaborate on it in the movie, and I don't really care.
So sorry if I sound negative - I actually think the SFX are great, although on my part as long as you avoid the characters looking Final Fantasy - creepy, I'm happy. So I can't really tell if this is so much better.
My main problem is with the plot - this movie has basically been done before, multiple times. From Pocahontas to the Last Samurai with some Dances with Wolves mixed in, it is cliched beyond the point of cliche. At least the acting was good enough to make me buy it - which I suppose is a testament to the quality of the mo-cap CGI performances.
In the end I got a solid, action-packed, fun movie which I really enjoyed, and the 2h30+ length seemed to zip by. But it hardly reinvents the world of movies as we know it.


This message last edited by smaug on 19/12/2009 at 11:19:49 PM
"Avatar" discussion thread
17/12/2009 08:10:04 AM
- 2380 Views
Innovative world-building sci-fi, dull cliched story
17/12/2009 01:13:47 PM
- 1063 Views
Doesn't that last paragraph describe Star Wars? *NM*
18/12/2009 03:33:58 AM
- 557 Views
Re: Doesn't that last paragraph describe Star Wars?
18/12/2009 09:49:23 AM
- 979 Views
Star Wars had many things. Good characters was not one of them. *NM*
18/12/2009 09:06:18 PM
- 450 Views
Re: Star Wars had many things. Good characters was not one of them.
19/12/2009 02:57:43 AM
- 946 Views
Avatar is basically Return of the Jedi, at least the part on Endor. But less militarily plausible
19/12/2009 02:22:35 AM
- 1176 Views
Re:Avatar is basically Return of the Jedi, at least the part on Endor. But less militarily plausible
19/12/2009 03:04:37 AM
- 1226 Views
Predictable with a tired & preachy plot. (spoilers) Also, the ending was completely ludicrous.
19/12/2009 03:02:21 AM
- 1440 Views
A rebuttal! For the points I disagree with, anyway.
20/12/2009 05:07:59 AM
- 1014 Views
Re: A rebuttal! For the points I disagree with, anyway.
21/12/2009 08:48:55 PM
- 1096 Views
It would help if you'd leave my quotes by the arguments, but whatever.
22/12/2009 10:36:42 AM
- 996 Views

wow, you really do need help
21/12/2009 07:23:12 AM
- 1201 Views
If the bad guy has all the stones and still loses, how heroic were the heroes?
21/12/2009 08:53:00 PM
- 1032 Views
That's uncalled for IMO
25/12/2009 09:04:01 PM
- 1127 Views
I am pretty sure she refered to the fact that he sheered for the bad guys and wished the Na'vi ill.
25/12/2009 09:19:32 PM
- 973 Views
I agree with your social commentary about the movie as ideological mirror for Cameron. *NM*
28/12/2009 05:09:56 AM
- 571 Views
Very good and fun, but not world-shattering.
19/12/2009 11:19:26 PM
- 1244 Views
Saw it a few hours ago, and enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
20/12/2009 05:14:11 AM
- 837 Views
An absolutely breathtaking film whose beauty is surpassed only by its predictability.
20/12/2009 10:57:53 AM
- 906 Views
Has anyone seen this in 3D and not enjoyed it??
20/12/2009 06:11:52 PM
- 1059 Views
Cannoli, presumably.
*NM*
20/12/2009 10:41:48 PM
- 656 Views

Sure make fun of the visually impaired, asshole.
21/12/2009 08:57:33 PM
- 1015 Views
Sci-fi Pocahontas
21/12/2009 01:12:02 AM
- 1033 Views
My friend and I spent the whole movie
07/01/2010 12:50:56 AM
- 870 Views
Oh so you're the kind of movie-goer in the seat behind me...
07/01/2010 11:20:56 AM
- 845 Views
No way!
07/01/2010 03:48:48 PM
- 772 Views
that you mock at all is incredibly disrespectful
07/01/2010 05:31:55 PM
- 959 Views
You're overreacting.
07/01/2010 06:20:06 PM
- 907 Views
You said you do it quietly
07/01/2010 08:18:07 PM
- 931 Views
Except maybe the purist who really needs to be kept in a total sensory deprivation chamber.
*NM*
08/01/2010 10:51:58 PM
- 482 Views

Nothing's more satisfying that seeing and hearing the crowd around you react like you do
09/01/2010 01:36:36 PM
- 842 Views
As usual, Hollywood shoves an ideology down peoples' throats. *NM*
26/12/2009 04:30:20 AM
- 431 Views
So, a silly thing I found distracting...
29/12/2009 07:26:02 AM
- 1004 Views
A silly thing I found distracting was that the aliens were humanoid. *NM*
29/12/2009 09:48:46 AM
- 602 Views
Umm you would rather watch non-humanoid aliens? Yeah thats fun *NM*
29/12/2009 03:29:26 PM
- 496 Views
well. it's not necessarily erroneous either.
30/12/2009 06:28:57 AM
- 849 Views
Yes.
03/01/2010 05:08:17 PM
- 974 Views
I believe she was speaking about their tails.
07/01/2010 07:37:46 AM
- 845 Views
If I remember it was the "USB Plug" in their hair. *NM*
08/01/2010 08:29:38 AM
- 612 Views
Yep
08/01/2010 09:33:08 AM
- 936 Views
It was the best movie I've seen in ages. I'm seriously thinking of going to see it again. *NM*
29/12/2009 12:20:11 PM
- 664 Views
Wife and I saw it yesterday. We're going to the IMAX a town over to catch it again.
29/12/2009 09:22:01 PM
- 920 Views
Project 880: The Avatar that might have been
31/12/2009 10:30:21 AM
- 1196 Views
It just took the double at the Golden Globes.
18/01/2010 04:04:08 AM
- 981 Views