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Me Avatarzan. You Jane.
Dec. 30th, 2009 08:52 pmI am free of the tyranny of work until next year, as of 1.30 today. To celebrate, we used the two AMC Gold Passes (good even when they say "no passes") Rohanna got from her boss to experience Avatar in IMAX 3D LSMFT OMGWTFBBQKTHXBAI. We were joined at the Barry Roads facility by the lovely and talented Ken Chalker, who was off with the ladies getting food when the ad for census workers came on during the interminable pre-movie infomercial.
As for the previews, I want to see Alice in Wonderland (and just when I didn't think Anne Hathaway (scroll down) could be any hotter, they made her the White Queen), and I do not want to see whatever the film is that stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (in the opening bit, she walks into him at an airport, and says "Sorry I didn't see you," to which I added, "Because you're so short!"). If they had added Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey to the cast, it would have only been marginally less appealing to me.
Then we put the goggles on, and saw more previews, of an IMAX 3D Hubble movie which I must see, Shrek 43 or somesuch (which I don't), along with others I don't remember. Then, at last, the movie. Short version: it's beautiful, a technological tour de force. While occasionally some of the the 3D stuff didn't seem quite right, it was very rare, and overall it was an amazing achievement, especially the little details drifting around that looked like you could reach out and touch them, as well as the live/CGI interaction. I thought that the Avatar of Sam Worthington looked more like Brendan Fraser, but after seeing the credits I could easily match up most of the Na'vi with the actors who provided the motion capture. Certainly the perpetual twleve-year-olds looking for cool visuals, lots of 'splody and alien chicks with cute tits will be happy.
As for the story, well, let's just say James Cameron has surpassed George Lucas as the director who should never be allowed to write a script. Ham-handed, cliché-riddled steaming pile doesn't begin to describe it (and I'm not going to even get into the whole "white savior" thing, obvious though it was*). I really wanted to immerse myself in the film, but the planet-sized plot holes kept dragging me back to reality. While I am sure this will be on the Hugo ballot and might even win, all the talk of Oscars for anything but effects is ludicrous. I will vote for District 9, Up and Moon over this lump.
I do recommend seeing it, for the riide, and the battle scenes, and in general just to be aware of how good movies can look. Someday all this tech will be used with a good story, well told and acted. I hope.
Update: Here's an excellent discussion of the issue, for those interested.
As for the previews, I want to see Alice in Wonderland (and just when I didn't think Anne Hathaway (scroll down) could be any hotter, they made her the White Queen), and I do not want to see whatever the film is that stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (in the opening bit, she walks into him at an airport, and says "Sorry I didn't see you," to which I added, "Because you're so short!"). If they had added Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey to the cast, it would have only been marginally less appealing to me.
Then we put the goggles on, and saw more previews, of an IMAX 3D Hubble movie which I must see, Shrek 43 or somesuch (which I don't), along with others I don't remember. Then, at last, the movie. Short version: it's beautiful, a technological tour de force. While occasionally some of the the 3D stuff didn't seem quite right, it was very rare, and overall it was an amazing achievement, especially the little details drifting around that looked like you could reach out and touch them, as well as the live/CGI interaction. I thought that the Avatar of Sam Worthington looked more like Brendan Fraser, but after seeing the credits I could easily match up most of the Na'vi with the actors who provided the motion capture. Certainly the perpetual twleve-year-olds looking for cool visuals, lots of 'splody and alien chicks with cute tits will be happy.
As for the story, well, let's just say James Cameron has surpassed George Lucas as the director who should never be allowed to write a script. Ham-handed, cliché-riddled steaming pile doesn't begin to describe it (and I'm not going to even get into the whole "white savior" thing, obvious though it was*). I really wanted to immerse myself in the film, but the planet-sized plot holes kept dragging me back to reality. While I am sure this will be on the Hugo ballot and might even win, all the talk of Oscars for anything but effects is ludicrous. I will vote for District 9, Up and Moon over this lump.
I do recommend seeing it, for the riide, and the battle scenes, and in general just to be aware of how good movies can look. Someday all this tech will be used with a good story, well told and acted. I hope.
Update: Here's an excellent discussion of the issue, for those interested.