Following the massive hype surrounding Avatar, I went ahead and saw the movie last night on iMax 3D. Did the movie live up to its hype? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because the visual effects are stunning. No, because the story line is ordinary. As most of us know the story line (thanks to the wide publicity), let's jump straight ahead to the review.
I heard that James Cameron was planning to make this movie ever since 1994. It looks like he had spent too much effort into detailing the visual effects that storyline takes the backseat. Anyway, he's back with a bang.
The director shows planet Pandora as a figment of his own imagination. Most plants and creatures shown in the planet are a variation of earthly life. The six legged horse is a variation of our earthly horse, the armored rhino like creature is a variation of earthly rhino, the wild dogs are a variation of our earthly dogs, the gliding bioluminescent creature is a variation of deep sea jelly fish, the collapsing plant is a variation of "touch me not" plant and the winged predators are variations of dragons.
The romance between the Neytiri and Jake is perfect and it happens naturally. The facial expressions are so realistic that we forget they're animated creatures. The floating mountains are breathtaking and fig bridges across them are a visual treat. Certain scenes in the movie are boring especially the scenes showing the customs and rituals of Na'vi tribe.
The human attack on the gigantic "Hometree" and it's destruction is spectacular.
We feel the vibration every inch during the tree's fall and it gets on to us, when its lands on the ground with a loud thud.
The epic battle scene towards the climax is mind-blowing and I wish it could have lasted longer. It's indeed interesting to watch a warfare between modern and primitive weaponry. However, it's unbelievable that the Na'vi arrows could penetrate the heavy windshields of human spaceships/helicopters and kill its pilots.
The director could have used a little more imagination into detailing the war machinery used by humans. Other than the giant spaceship and war helicopters, all other war equipments look ordinary and the soldiers are still using automatic machine guns. Come on, it's 2154. Don't you think lazer guns or some other advanced weapon would have been more appropriate?
The transporting of one's own Avatar into "Pandora" reminds us of concept behind the "Matrix". Also the final scene where the villain gets in to a robotic monster and fights the hero reminds us of the final scene in the "Aliens"(a great movie by Cameron).
The quote “Gentlemen! You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora.” is indeed catchy. Those who had watched the movie "The Wizard of Oz " would be able to appreciate it. The director makes the audience live and breathe "Pandora" for the whole length of the movie.
In summary, Avatar is a visual treat and it's a perfect movie for a family night out with kids. I would rate this movie 3.5 stars out of 5, between average and excellent. Watch it only on iMax 3D and don't compromise on that.
Mediocre movie and not worth the hype of USD 0.5 billion.
Kyunji ! Hamara Kamalji already make Dasavathar (10 Avatars) andu Hamara Super Star making Robot(Endhiran) nowu.
Mr.James Cameron learnu fromu Desi movie that All Magic - no Logic.
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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.
Totally agree
Its worth every penny you paid for this movie. Generally i see movies online or DVD's but once in a while these type of visual treats should be watched on bigscreen that too 3D effect.
I spent almost $50(2+1) but not disappointed even after the movie hangover is gone. I could not imagine how i could sit in a movie which 2 1/2 hour with no interval(used to take smoke break during interval) with no complains.
well certainly its worth watching the movie in IMAX 3D...
dont wanna go the story line as long as it kept me wondering for continueous 2 1/2 hours including my wife and 5 year old kid.
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MK
Location: carl sagan's universe
Posted on: 21-12-09 18:45:10
indeed a Dada movie where special effects are concerned.What a long strange trip it was!
Friends of mine dropped some acid and went to see it and said it was the wildest trip since Fantasia, Yellow Submarine, Space Odyssey 2001 and every other such movie combined- though how they concluded that is beyond me.
And I thought acid was passe- that there was better stuff out there. Anyways my friends are old folks so I guess they would pick acid over the other designer stuff.
Quote:
Originally posted by investpro
indeed a Dada movie where special effects are concerned.What a long strange trip it was!
Friends of mine dropped some acid and went to see it and said it was the wildest trip since Fantasia, Yellow Submarine, Space Odyssey 2001 and every other such movie combined- though how they concluded that is beyond me.
And I thought acid was passe- that there was better stuff out there. Anyways my friends are old folks so I guess they would pick acid over the other designer stuff.
Avatar is a classic movie which has taken exhibition Cinema to new heights, if some of fellow CDs have not liked it I recommend them to go and watch in 3D if you can watch it in IMAX 3D its even better.
The first 20-30 mins actually floored me, it is a feast to watch how LIVE 3D + CG and motion capture have been presented, being a techie I was looking for mistakes but after introduction to Pandora land my jaws dropped. Actually there are six scenes which are the technical highlights of this movie which I wish to watch again in IMAX 3D.
Please note this movie is a game changer and shall bring 3D into consumer world and cinema exhibition world. I would say that the industry as such has spend mllions of dollars to deliver this. Avatar was released digitally across the world on over thousands of screens and by just spending a few dollars one can escape into the pandora world and have a life time experience.
Even if one were not to like the story but just to enoy the cinematic presentation which is worth millions of dollars and each frame took almost $10,000 to be created it is an opportunity not to be missed.
The Indian film industry has also acknowledged the power of this movie and I can see some interesting projects coming up in Bollywood to convert 2D content to 3D.
So my big thums up to this movie........
Please enjoy !
Quote:
Originally posted by investpro
indeed a Dada movie where special effects are concerned.What a long strange trip it was!
Friends of mine dropped some acid and went to see it and said it was the wildest trip since Fantasia, Yellow Submarine, Space Odyssey 2001 and every other such movie combined- though how they concluded that is beyond me.
And I thought acid was passe- that there was better stuff out there. Anyways my friends are old folks so I guess they would pick acid over the other designer stuff.
After dropping acid, even "Space Odyssey" or "Gigli" would look awesome
Quote:
Originally posted by Vandematram
Mediocre movie and not worth the hype of USD 0.5 billion.
Agree with your review. The director has put too much effort on the technical aspect of the movie and neglects the story/script portion. It uses movie as medium of technical innovation, not as an art.
No doubt about the technical brilliance/CGI used in the movie, but after a while it feels boring. The movie is a mishmash of "Jurassic Park", "Matrix", "Ironman" and our own "Dharmatma", with cliched and corny dialogues. Nowhere do you feel awed/surprised by the story/direction. After watching first 15-20 min of movie, you know the path it is going to follow.
I am going to see the movie again, as I got the front seats in theatre, but I would be disappointed if this movie goes on to win an Oscar for best movie/direction. This is more kind of "popcorn" movie, where you can safely leave your brains outside of theatres and go only for the sake of getting entertained.
