Sunday
Dec202009
Avatar
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 10:50AM
Another semester, has come to a close in Norman, and now it looks like I only have one semester left in school! To celebrate finishing the semester, a couple friends and I went to take in Avatar, the latest film spectacle from James Cameron, the director behind The Terminator, Aliens, and Titanic to name a few. This film has been touted by many to be a industry changer with its use of 3-D and motion capture technology, not to mention that it is most likely the most expensive film ever made. So needless to say, expectations were pretty high.
If you're unaware of the story of this film it's basically this: a paralyzed marine travels to a distant planet to assist in a mining operation of a valuable mineral. However, the planet is inhabited by an alien species that is reluctant to move, and of course, this leads to conflict. If you've seen Dances with Wolves, The New World, or The Last Samurai, you probably have a good idea of how this plays out. The one unique thing about this particular film however is how the humans interact with the aliens - through the use of "avatars," which is transporting your consciousness into an alien body, which happens to be about 10 feet tall and blue.
While the story itself isn't terribly revelatory (not too surprising given Cameron's other movies), the imagery is astounding to say the least. First, I don't know if I've ever seen a digitally produced landscape this impressive; I was constantly scanning the entire screen to try and take in as much of the alien landscape as possible. Add the fact that its 3-D, and it's even more impressive. I've seen a few movies in 3-D in the last couple years, and was never that impressed with what they did with it. In Avatar however, the 3-D is not used in a gimmicky fashion (pop outs and stuff flying out of the screen), but rather to create an immersive environment - after a while I completely forgot I had the glasses on. If you think you're interested in seeing this movie, you owe it to yourself to see it on as big a screen as possible, and in 3-D.
Also impressive on the technological side was the use of motion capture technology for the alien species. Again in prior circumstances where this technology was used it only sometimes succeeded (Gollum in LOTR was good, Beowulf not so much), but there seems to have been a huge leap forward in the realism involved, especially in terms of facial characterization. You can definitely see the emotions in the characters faces, and you can totally believe that these creatures exist, at least in this environment. It also helps that the actors involved did a good job, especially Zoe Saldana as one of the alien leaders (she almost certainly would be nominated for awards had this not been a motion-capture performance).
While this movie is technologically impressive, the big critique has been on the story side. Yes, the story is fairly predictable and has been seen in a few other incarnations before (the movies listed above as a few examples). However, I feel like the story is done well enough, and most importantly, the emotion behind the story is strong enough that it still keeps the movie from being too hokey. For instance, the main character (played by Sam Worthington) is paralyzed, but when he inhabits his alien body, he can walk again, and the emotion at being able to regain mobility is shown well. I also found it interesting at how after several months inhabiting his alien body, he began to have difficulties returning to his human body and interacting with his human counterparts. I think if the story had focused more on these ideas than the traditional story it has, it might have been looked upon as one of the greatest movies in recent history. That being said, this movie will still be well received and will make a bundle of money. I enjoyed Avatar quite a bit, and it's definitely one I look forward to seeing again.
If you're unaware of the story of this film it's basically this: a paralyzed marine travels to a distant planet to assist in a mining operation of a valuable mineral. However, the planet is inhabited by an alien species that is reluctant to move, and of course, this leads to conflict. If you've seen Dances with Wolves, The New World, or The Last Samurai, you probably have a good idea of how this plays out. The one unique thing about this particular film however is how the humans interact with the aliens - through the use of "avatars," which is transporting your consciousness into an alien body, which happens to be about 10 feet tall and blue.
While the story itself isn't terribly revelatory (not too surprising given Cameron's other movies), the imagery is astounding to say the least. First, I don't know if I've ever seen a digitally produced landscape this impressive; I was constantly scanning the entire screen to try and take in as much of the alien landscape as possible. Add the fact that its 3-D, and it's even more impressive. I've seen a few movies in 3-D in the last couple years, and was never that impressed with what they did with it. In Avatar however, the 3-D is not used in a gimmicky fashion (pop outs and stuff flying out of the screen), but rather to create an immersive environment - after a while I completely forgot I had the glasses on. If you think you're interested in seeing this movie, you owe it to yourself to see it on as big a screen as possible, and in 3-D.
Also impressive on the technological side was the use of motion capture technology for the alien species. Again in prior circumstances where this technology was used it only sometimes succeeded (Gollum in LOTR was good, Beowulf not so much), but there seems to have been a huge leap forward in the realism involved, especially in terms of facial characterization. You can definitely see the emotions in the characters faces, and you can totally believe that these creatures exist, at least in this environment. It also helps that the actors involved did a good job, especially Zoe Saldana as one of the alien leaders (she almost certainly would be nominated for awards had this not been a motion-capture performance).
While this movie is technologically impressive, the big critique has been on the story side. Yes, the story is fairly predictable and has been seen in a few other incarnations before (the movies listed above as a few examples). However, I feel like the story is done well enough, and most importantly, the emotion behind the story is strong enough that it still keeps the movie from being too hokey. For instance, the main character (played by Sam Worthington) is paralyzed, but when he inhabits his alien body, he can walk again, and the emotion at being able to regain mobility is shown well. I also found it interesting at how after several months inhabiting his alien body, he began to have difficulties returning to his human body and interacting with his human counterparts. I think if the story had focused more on these ideas than the traditional story it has, it might have been looked upon as one of the greatest movies in recent history. That being said, this movie will still be well received and will make a bundle of money. I enjoyed Avatar quite a bit, and it's definitely one I look forward to seeing again.
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Reader Comments (1)
So are you officially done with your blog then? Dec 20th was a long time ago.