Okay Geek Farm
Avatar Review - There are Movies, and then there's Avatar
Ricardo Trejo
I'll be the first to say that I wasn't at all excited for Avatar. I had posted the the first trailer on here months ago, but ever since then I lost whatever desire I had to go see the movie. Brandon suggested I check it out so I could write this review: it was the best decision I've ever made.
As soon as you are given the first glimpse of the world of Pandora you are reminded of the feeling you had when you first were welcomed to Jurassic Park - knowing that something was about to go down, and the suspense was killing you. 'What's all the hype about', you're asking yourself while you sit in your seat, eating that buttery popcorn and feeling the sticky theater floor. Then from one second to another you are thrown head first into an environment of stunning beauty, vibrant color, and mystery. There's no turning back from this point on, and the movie takes off as if on a rocket heading deep into space with you as it's passenger.
The story is familiar, a Pocahontas/ Dances with Wolves tale of white man guilt, but that's not what's made this movie the spectacle it's become. No, it's of course the visuals that literally make your jaw drop, questioning your sense of reality, never being able to stretch your finger and point out what exactly is make up, CG effects, or real life. James Cameron is known the world over for his Hollywood work, and he's been working on this movie in his head for more than a decade, waiting for an opportunity to give people the proper vision of his dream. I believe Peter Jackson tried to do this with King Kong a couple years back but it didn't stun. His CG didn't take your breath away, and only made it that much more apparent that it was fake. Avatar is on the other side of the spectrum, having waited and even created the technology that would make it the show stopper it is.
The movie plays out through a blue alien race known as the Na'vi, whom once you've been introduced to are no longer CG characters, but real, breathing creatures that feel and are indistinguishable from their human counterparts. And maybe that's part of the charm of Avatar; being opened up to a world that seemingly isn't something that can be beheld by our immediate sight, yet here Cameron is showing us that, yes, Pandora is a real world- and it's the most beautiful thing you've ever experienced on film.
Do NOT. I repeat, do NOT go see this in a non-3D showing. This would be like seeing Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in black and white. To appreciate every single detail you NEED to see it in 3D; it's a must. And this isn't that cheap 3D gimmicks we've come to know. People are turned off by 3D because they think of the cheap tricks of someone pointing or throwing something at the screen and making you believe for a second it's coming at you - Avatar doesn't have any of that. Rather, you are put in the middle of the action and are connected to it somehow in a way never before realized or seen.
Critics have said that this is the Star Wars of our generation, and I can't agree with them enough. There are movies, and then there's Avatar. I don't see how anything coming soon; not Iron Man, not Alice in Wonderland; can even come close to this masterpiece of a movie. I've already made plans to see it in IMAX 3D, where I should've seen it in the first place. For anyone who hasn't gone yet, you have no excuse to miss this chance at seeing the next step in the evolution of cinema.
