AVATAR

James Cameron's AVATAR* was, in my opinion, one of the best pictures of the year, of the decade, and maybe ever. I don't find it easy to rank and compare films, or to easily say something was "my favorite"** Every film is different, and saying one is better than the other is, for me, a lot like talking about apples and oranges. However, AVATAR was stunning. It reminded me why I want to be in the film business, why I admire the craft. It sets new standards for other films in my mind. In some ways, it seems like what films might look like ten, twenty, or even thirty years from now... James Cameron just happened to make it a little earlier. This movie is the most astonishing visual experience I've ever witnessed on the silver screen. I've seen it twice and a bit of time has elapsed since both viewings, so it's possible that my opinion might change if I see it a third time, or when time passes and I see it on my computer. It's possible that the shock and awe will someday wear off and I'll look at this blog entry and think "huh?"... only time will tell. But for now, all I can say is that AVATAR blew me away.

You ARE on Pandora when you watch this film. Cameron takes you on a journey when you sit down and the lights dim. This is not a movie that is about a brilliant script, witting dialogue, powerful characters... it's a movie that's about a vision. Everything on Pandora, from the banshees to the little lemur monkeys with four arms to the seeds of Ewya looks and feels real, though completely otherworldly. I found out recently that Cameron has a history in natural science, which makes TOTAL sense to me based on the world and creatures he created.

Cameron is not a guy to go halfway. This is "King of the World," creator of the highest grossing film ever James Cameron we're talking about. The guy was brave enough to sink the frikkin Titanic on screen, after all. So, of course, writing a script that is not possible to create didn't stop him... he just went right ahead MAKING it possible. This is something that I admire to NO end. The fact that there is camera technology credited at the end of the film that is named after Cameron is just brilliant, in my mind. If more people were like this, if more people had the attitude that nothing is IMpossible, just not possible YET, well my friends, the world would be a different place.

The 3D effect in AVATAR is effortless, so different from Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol or Beowulf, which are my main frames of reference for 3D feature films. The 3D in this film does not seem like that Disneyland attraction that sprays water in your face, shakes your seat, and shoots images out of the screen for maximum effect.*** When I saw A Christmas Carol, the 3D was so OBVIOUS, as if the entire time I was watching it, my brain was going "ooh, look, that's in 3D. Ooh, so is that." No, the 3D in this film is not obvious or flashy. Instead, it aims at recreating real life. The screen has a depth that you never knew was missing from traditional 2D movies. When so-and-so is standing in front of a desk, you can TELL that they're in front of it.

As for the CGI... well, what can I say. The translation from motion capture to photo-real image is stunning. Gone is that "video game" plastic-y look that plagues so many CG scenes of the past. Na'vi skin looks touchable. Motion is real, emotion is real. The only thing holding Pandora back from being real is reality itself.

Now, I have no idea how much Cameron changed the script from what he originally wrote in 1995, but the fact that the core idea of this movie has everything to do with the danger of destruction and war, the peril of an threatened world, and the importance of seeing, understanding, and valuing the NETWORKS in the world around us ... was written FOR 2009. This is a message people need to see and understand. Pandora is Earth, only there aren't clear victims like the Na'vi people. WE, humans, are the ruthless power-hungry, greedy bastards that the film makes clear "bad guys." Our only hope is to learn from Nuteri and her people, to learn to SEE and understand how everything is connected.

This is getting long, and is only likely to develop into novel-esque size if I don't stop soon. See AVATAR, if you haven't. See it again, if you have. I will be rooting for it at the Golden Globes and Oscars, I will be watching it many more times, I'm sure. This is a monumental film, and I only hope that someday, I can have a small part in making something like it.

Cheers.



*Somehow the title just HAS to be written in caps. It's not avatar or Avatar... it's AVATAR, complete with booming loud drum noises, ala the end of the film, or a movie-trailer voice and flashy neon letters.
**Except Pirates of the Caribbean, which remains my FAVORITE film, the movie I saw 9 times in theaters, the movie that I have honored with posters all over my room, the movie which will always hold a special place in my heart. -- I know, I'm weird.
***Please tell me you know what I'm talking about here.