When I first heard about this movie and the hype that was coming with, I just rolled my eyes and thought, "Crap, here we go again!" Yet another Hollywood blockbuster with large explosions, over-the-top CGI, including the possibility of no storyline whatsoever. Yet another mindless formulaic excuse to make money from us poor souls one more time. Hollywood has been devoid of anything very satisfying in a very long time. Batman Returns was finally something that we could all sit back and enjoy for the show and story. But there really has been nothing in recent history that has really come to challenge our expectations or really deliver in a complete package.
I didn't really know much about the history of this film; I've been under a rock lately and haven't been spending nearly the time I normally do looking at upcoming media. I suppose that's just a bit more apathy that's transformed me into a Hollywood skeptic. I heard that James Cameron was in charge of this film from the basic creative roots to post-production, so that had me intrigued. I've been a big fan of his work since the days of "Aliens". So we do know that he understands how to entertain the folks and spend the movie budget in very thoughtful and creative ways. The envelope will be pushed under his watch; I had no doubts. I still have never seen "Titanic". Not meaning to disrespect Jim, but I have to give a nod to my absolute loathing of Leo (sorry Leo, but I doubt you play UO, heh).
So I didn't go see this film on opening day, or even a couple weeks after its release. However during that time, I did start to take notice of the critical reviews as well as the fan response on sites like rottentomatoes and fandango. I generally try and see movies that Roger Ebert dislikes just because he's normally out in left field regarding his critical reviews of the big Hollywood block-busters. But when he came back and compared his experience with that of the first screening of "Star Wars", well that just confused me even more. So I just had to see it to see who was lying to whom.
So sitting there with those damn silly 3d glasses on my face, I started to watch. First the silly 3d credits (I'm looking forward to seeing that 3D Dragon film!) and then on to the rest of the movie. First thing that struck me was the absolutely georgeous feel of the 3D world with the glasses. Jim knows 3d from his work on the Voyage to Titanic he did with DSRVs. But this was something completely different. No 3D gimicks, but rather integrating the 3d world throughout the film. I got used to everything kinda poking out of the screen after a while. Every once in a while when a missle wizzed past my ear, I realized I wasn't really watching a normal movie.
Generally with CGI even in this day and age, there's just something missing. This was perhaps the first CGI heavy film that didn't make me spend most of my time catching all the little errors that haunt other films. I was actually able to sit and watch the actors ACT and the CGI ACT as well. That was truly a monumental achievement. This film was approached with an eye to detail that I've never seen before. The perspective of the avatars to the normal humans is just an example. It's mind-bending to think of having to manage all these aspects of a film this huge and keep it from turning into a train wreck at the end. Overall, the CGI and special effects were unequaled in any film to date.
So we've got a good movie from the special effects standpoint (outstanding in this film's case), but generally this is where the story will kill a film. The latest Transformers film is a good example of that. Great special effects, but man the story just wanted to be jettisoned from the airlock. So I guess this is what was most surprising to me about this film was a rich, deep and moving storyline. Ultimately, we've all seen this movie before in other incarnations:
Introduce good, learn good, good repressed by evil, evil seems to dominate, good wins in the end. I've lost track of all the films that follow this way of storytelling. Thankfully, this film wraps the vision of the director around this seemingly basic formula and takes you in what seems like a new direction. In the end, I was completely entertained and was left wanting to see the sequel. Oh yes, there will be a sequel.
Probably some people will cry foul for the obvious political message that's conveyed during the film. I'm a very political cat, and these days I just try to put the never-ending political assault aside in order to find a level of enjoyment that's agreeable. Hopefully you'll be able to make that transformation so you'll be able to appreciate the film for all its merits.
So my final thoughts are this is THE best film I've seen since even before the LOTR series. Frankly, I haven't been moved quite like this by a movie in a very long time. So the hype was true for the first time since I can remember as an adult. I'd even go so far as to say that Roger Ebert was correct (gasp!) in his comparison of this film to "Star Wars". Star Wars changed film making forever, and there's no doubt in my mind that "Avatar" will have equal effect.
P.S. I'm looking forward to seeing this for the 4th time next weekend.
Your humble reviewer,
TrailMyx
P.S. For the record, I saw the original Star Wars 7 times in the theatre back then. That means I begged, borrowed, or hijacked a ride to the theatre all those times. These days, I have 3 cars to get there! Watch out! eheh
