Avatar

So I finally got a chance to see the big movie event for 2009; or as James Cameron would have you believe, the history or cinema. Avatar is an epic tale of Humans encroaching on the native life of this fantastically beautiful world of Pandora. Both the production and story are epic in a nature, and if there is one thing Mr. Cameron understands its epic.

I felt the characters and story in Avatar were a bit on the stock side. Generic Corporate Villain, Generic Science Hero, etc. I do think this worked in the movies favor, where he could focus more on writing it in an entertaining way as opposed to coming up with something completely fresh. Speaking of which, his writing was spot on, just right with the heavy handed-ness and the levity when needed. With a moral we've heard over and over (conservation, anthropology, etc). He wasn't out to write the greatest screen play, he was out to recreate a movie event.

Now one of the biggest points of this movie is the special effects. I realized by the end of the movie I was not thinking about which moments where CGI and which were real life. I also felt the 3D added a certain depth and reality to the fictitious planet of Pandora. Some of the moments in 3D are truly mind bending, with the sweeping vistas to the simply things, like a laboratory. I think the simple fact of the matter is that you never were put out of the moment by the special effects, they only added to it.

In the end, I would say Avatar is one of the most interesting movies I've seen in a long time. James Cameron is certainly an entertainer and when given the chance to make something epic and over the top he is able to deliver. I think a lot of old hands in Hollywood could take a lesson or two from him on how not to ruin your career with the big budget labor of love.