I saw Avatar yesterday like millions of other people out there, in one word: Awesome. I left the theater in awe. The story, as everyone else has said, Dances with Wolves 2.0. Sure, not particularly unique, but a good story. Where the movie shined was in its visuals. Absolutely amazing, the detail that went into the creation of the planet: the forest, the creatures, the plants, was unbelievable. And when I left it didn’t feel like a made up world, I feel like I could go there, period. It was so rich and colorful, I left the theater to drive through cold, grey, gloomy downtown Cincinnati, and was seriously depressed, I wanted to go walk through a forest, or ride a horse (I wish I could go ride dragons, but that isn’t a feasible option, although if it were, I would be all over that shit). With nearly every scene I just wished I could freeze frame it and look around, explore the detail that an amazing group of artists created.
I left the theater wishing the movie would go on for another 3 hours. It felt like no time at all. I want to know more about the Na’vi culture, and the people that are a part of it. I wish I could have seen more when Jake was trying to assimilate himself to the Na’vi, He had it way too easy in my opinion, I’m pretty sure that would have gone down differently. All in all, I know they couldn’t have made it a longer movie and expected normal people to go see it, but I would have sat through something twice as long. Fingers crossed for a ridiculous directors cut.
There is so much more I could say, but others have already said it better than I could. Annalee Newitz at I09 didn’t so much write a review, but I entirely agree with her take on the story. There are so few new concepts out there; we just keep re-imaging the same old stories, had Avatar brought a unique and insightful story to the table it could have been even better.
I’ll leave you with the two parts of the movie that just irk me:
1. Unobtainium? really? You write an entire language and you decided to call the ore that they are mining Unobtainium? I am sure there was a reason, but honestly, that’s just a little stupid.
2. You used Papyrus, or a font close enough to it to piss me off, for the subtitles, that knocks you down a few notches.
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I agree 100%, it was a superb movie. I want to go see it again or “rent” it at the “store” since schools starting back up and I’m going to be poor again. Though I don’t know if I can just “rent” such a good movie.
Also, your papyrus hating has me a bit worried. It would be ashamed if a papyrus bumper sticker somehow managed to attach itself to your car.