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
- 2387 Views
Innovative world-building sci-fi, dull cliched story
17/12/2009 01:13:47 PM
- 1069 Views
Doesn't that last paragraph describe Star Wars? *NM*
18/12/2009 03:33:58 AM
- 559 Views
Re: Doesn't that last paragraph describe Star Wars?
18/12/2009 09:49:23 AM
- 985 Views
Star Wars had many things. Good characters was not one of them. *NM*
18/12/2009 09:06:18 PM
- 452 Views
Re: Star Wars had many things. Good characters was not one of them.
19/12/2009 02:57:43 AM
- 953 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
- 1181 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
- 1231 Views
Predictable with a tired & preachy plot. (spoilers) Also, the ending was completely ludicrous.
19/12/2009 03:02:21 AM
- 1448 Views
A rebuttal! For the points I disagree with, anyway.
20/12/2009 05:07:59 AM
- 1018 Views
Re: A rebuttal! For the points I disagree with, anyway.
21/12/2009 08:48:55 PM
- 1105 Views
It would help if you'd leave my quotes by the arguments, but whatever.
22/12/2009 10:36:42 AM
- 1001 Views

wow, you really do need help
21/12/2009 07:23:12 AM
- 1217 Views
If the bad guy has all the stones and still loses, how heroic were the heroes?
21/12/2009 08:53:00 PM
- 1040 Views
That's uncalled for IMO
25/12/2009 09:04:01 PM
- 1135 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
- 977 Views
I agree with your social commentary about the movie as ideological mirror for Cameron. *NM*
28/12/2009 05:09:56 AM
- 575 Views
Very good and fun, but not world-shattering.
19/12/2009 11:19:26 PM
- 1248 Views
Saw it a few hours ago, and enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
20/12/2009 05:14:11 AM
- 843 Views
An absolutely breathtaking film whose beauty is surpassed only by its predictability.
20/12/2009 10:57:53 AM
- 911 Views
Has anyone seen this in 3D and not enjoyed it??
20/12/2009 06:11:52 PM
- 1061 Views
Cannoli, presumably.
*NM*
20/12/2009 10:41:48 PM
- 660 Views

Sure make fun of the visually impaired, asshole.
21/12/2009 08:57:33 PM
- 1020 Views
Sci-fi Pocahontas
21/12/2009 01:12:02 AM
- 1038 Views
My friend and I spent the whole movie
07/01/2010 12:50:56 AM
- 879 Views
Oh so you're the kind of movie-goer in the seat behind me...
07/01/2010 11:20:56 AM
- 850 Views
No way!
07/01/2010 03:48:48 PM
- 778 Views
that you mock at all is incredibly disrespectful
07/01/2010 05:31:55 PM
- 967 Views
You're overreacting.
07/01/2010 06:20:06 PM
- 918 Views
You said you do it quietly
07/01/2010 08:18:07 PM
- 935 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
- 486 Views

Nothing's more satisfying that seeing and hearing the crowd around you react like you do
09/01/2010 01:36:36 PM
- 847 Views
As usual, Hollywood shoves an ideology down peoples' throats. *NM*
26/12/2009 04:30:20 AM
- 436 Views
So, a silly thing I found distracting...
29/12/2009 07:26:02 AM
- 1010 Views
A silly thing I found distracting was that the aliens were humanoid. *NM*
29/12/2009 09:48:46 AM
- 605 Views
Umm you would rather watch non-humanoid aliens? Yeah thats fun *NM*
29/12/2009 03:29:26 PM
- 499 Views
well. it's not necessarily erroneous either.
30/12/2009 06:28:57 AM
- 854 Views
Yes.
03/01/2010 05:08:17 PM
- 979 Views
I believe she was speaking about their tails.
07/01/2010 07:37:46 AM
- 853 Views
If I remember it was the "USB Plug" in their hair. *NM*
08/01/2010 08:29:38 AM
- 617 Views
Yep
08/01/2010 09:33:08 AM
- 947 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
- 667 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
- 924 Views
Project 880: The Avatar that might have been
31/12/2009 10:30:21 AM
- 1205 Views
It just took the double at the Golden Globes.
18/01/2010 04:04:08 AM
- 985 Views