Avatar review

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Right, lets get this over with, and get to the ratings. I gave this 8/10 for the CGI, the sound effects and the whole 3D presentation. Truly James Cameron is the master of big blockbuster hits which have spanned stuff like Titanic, Abyss, True Lies, Terminator I & II, but I also gave the movie 4/10 for the story. So now for the details…

 

3D is 2010’s new fangled way of seducing movie goers back to the big screen, just as franchise re-boots were the order of the day in 2009. as DVDs and Blu Ray become more pervasive, it can be almost as good to watch your favorite movie in the comforts of your home, especially if you possess a kick-ass surround system. However current technology will not come anywhere close to the kind of eye-popping effects that a jaunt to the cinema with 3D will provide.

 

So for the good stuff first. Cameron has spared no expense to create a whole new world, the screen is filled with vibrant colors, and there are ambient surround effects emanating from all parts of the cinema, adding a real sonic experience to the movie. The bass was actually weaker than I expected, and did not meet the levels experienced during Star Trek or Transformers II, which were at the top of their game, but even UP had a better bass sound track.

 

Even so, the CGI employ almost makes the holes in the plot bearable and for those who just want to experience 3D, without caring much for the plot, then they can do a lot worse than this show.

 

And indeed you really have to suspend your disbelief. You really need to switch off any brain cells to go with the flow.

Its '1492' meets 'Dances with Wolves' meets 'Eragon' meets 'Pocahontas' meets 'New World' meets.... well you get the idea that Mr Cameron is a master of CGI and using Weta was a stroke of genuis but he should really hire someone way better to get a better story. The story is meant to be simply I assume, to showcase his 3D wizardry, but as in many of these action movies, it borrows or to be more accurate, cuts and pastes the storyline out of other plots, almost as though Cameron had a digital storyboard in his lap and was googling for ideas online then adding elements from other movies to conjure up this movie. The whole catch your own Banshee thing and mating with just one was lifted right out of Eragon, and the white man meets natives bit, complete with CGI faces of the Navi (which also sounds American Indian) and the Indian accents, all come from previous movies of which ‘1492’, ‘Dances’, and 'Pocahontas' are just a few famous examples.

 

However fans of 3D and Avatar will be quick to forgive such shortcoming and indeed there is plenty of action, some humor and the spectacle of 3D to keep them happy. Things really pop out from the screen although for people like me with small noses and spectacles it became a struggle over the length of the movie to keep the 3D glasses in place.

 

Producers of the next 3D movie will have it harder, as the novelty wears off and we examine the plot more closely. Take “UP”, that is my current gold standard. It combines humor, action and the 3D is a bonus rather than the main thrust of the movie. Directors will do well to take a page out of that show.

 

4/10 for plot. Overall, 5.5/10.

 

 

 

 

 

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