Avatar Review

I can't believe the amount of hype this movie has created. This James Cameron flick has probably garnered more attention than any other movie released in 2009. Does it live up to its hype? Read on.

I can't really talk about this movie without touching on the visuals. While I did not see it in an IMAX theatre, I did see it in 3D. Would I see it any other way? No. You have to see this movie in 3D. The visuals are simply stunning, and I felt the 3D experience only added to it. Now is there any point in CG-ifying (yeah, I just made that up) familiar actors and actresses like they did in this movie? No, I don't think so. This really just made things confusing. If you're going to use the likeness of a real actor, why would you need to recreate their image with CG? Granted, the cast is pretty awesome so since I don't really understand the technical side of it, I won't say any more about this.

The story is essentially one of understanding foreign creatures and their culture. Real life human beings are able to embody "avatars" thereby becoming the likeness of these aliens. This also enables them to breathe on this planet. Since the movie is 3 hours and 2 minutes, I shouldn't be able to sum up the movie in two or three sentences, but there really isn't much else to know. On the one hand, there are those who come to love and understand these alien creatures. On the other hand, there are those who would destroy them for the sake of resources (in this case, Unobtainium). Wikipedia defines Unobtainium as "a humorous name for any extremely rare, costly, or physically impossible material needed to fulfill a given design or given application." And that pretty much describes it to a tee.

I can't say much about the soundtrack because I really don't remember. I think it was pretty good, but nowhere near as good as Bill Conti.

All in all, Avatar was pretty entertaining. Is it an instant classic? No. Is it a movie that I will be talking about for years to come? Unlikely. Still, it definitely has its strong points. The cast is great, the visuals are awesome, and the story is at least tolerable. The various creatures in the film were very well conceived, and the overall esthetic of the movie is superb.