Genres

Visitors Review

The_Third_Alec 2012-05-23 03:07:46

Avatar (2009)

Opening: James Cameron called himself the king of the world 12 yearsago for his amazing success with "Titanic". His life is on repeat.Avatar, the thrilling epic directed by Cameron, is one of the bestfilms of 2009 and one of the greatest technical achievements in cinemahistory. Brief Summary: When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegicMarine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distantworld of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead ParkerSelfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" inorder to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their richwoodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs,Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded bygung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltratethe Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jakebegins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with thebeautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with hisruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand -and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.Review: Watching this film on the big screen is an experience you willnever have again, unless a film as visually satisfying comes alongagain. The effects are the most amazing thing I have ever seen onscreen. The film is a powerhouse in that department. The screenplay:There are points where it gets unoriginal, but the amazing effectsprimarily cover it up. The acting has its high and low points. Let'sstart with Sigourney Weaver. One of the most popular science fictionactresses (or actors, I might add) known to date. Her roles in theAlien series really helped. Here, her role is much more mature. Sheisn't killing an alien race from another planet (Well, technicallynot), she is saving the race from the deforestation of the nowhabitating humans. She uses her strong intentions to save the Na'vi.Another high point is Zoe Saldana. She gives the best fully CGIperformance ever. She has the right emotion for the role. Low pointsinclude Sam Worthington's stiff as wood performance, and MichelleRodriguez (spelling), the manly woman who sounds like a dying horse.James Cameron shows us he can make a comeback from his success. Hisdedication for this project is very strong as we can tell through themovie. This film is a must-see on the big screen, but how will it be ona small TV at home?Overall: Enjoyment: 10/10 | 99/100 | A+ | 5/5 Acting: 8/10 | 79/100 |B+ | 4/5 Direction: 8/10 | 82/100 | B | 4/5 Screenplay: 7/10 | 69/100 |B- | 3.5/5 Final Grade: 9/10 | 86/100 | B+ | 4.5/5

2012-05-22 13:02:39

Great movie, I was floored how enjoyable it was!

I took my wife to see this movie, I didn't really think I was going to like it, but boy was I surprised! The story line was a bit predictable to any movie buff (another remake of the white man relocating native Americans story set in space), but the characters brought out by the technology made it like the first time I'd ever saw it all over again. I hardly ever write reviews for any movie, but this is a big win in my opinion, I'll be getting the Blue-Ray when it comes out for sure!

ajquioc 2012-05-20 20:36:04

Must- See on Blu-ray and/or DVD

Yes, some people have seen this film on the movies, in 3-d or in 2-d.Of course it is not enough to just watch it on a big screen, so when itcomes on home video, rent or buy the Blu-ray even it is expensivebecause you may want to experience the stunning visuals in clear HD onyour HDTV if you have one or else you will miss the fun on this film.Yes, overall seeing this film on a regular watching (DVD) or on aspecial watching (Blu-ray) still in fact the story, visuals, acting,direction are totally amazing. Although we know about the story of thisfilm.Yes, I'm ready to watch this film again at this time in Blu-ray ifpossible because DVD is just Ha??? Alright enough said, just grab thismovie on video rental stores nationwide in April 22, 2010 (also EarthDay) to experience this one.And YES I'M SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, IT WILL NOT DISAPPOINT YOU.

billreynolds 2012-05-20 09:14:16

An insult to the thinking moviegoer

I have noticed a lot of critical comments on this movie come fromconservatives who dislike its allegedly "liberal" message. Let me say,first off, I am very politically liberal and progressive, considermyself an environmentalist and certainly abhor racism, and I reallydisliked this movie.The story is simply idiotic.Are we supposed to believe that it is commercially viable to send amassive spaceship -- that must literally cost more than the entireworld's 2010 GDP to develop, build, and operate -- on a 12-yearround-trip mission to Pandora just to bring back "unobtanium"? How does"the corporation" know there will be a market for it when they bring itback? If humanity has developed the technology to efficiently power ahuge manned spacecraft over light-years nearly at the speed of light,then something tells me humanity can solve its energy problems (orwhatever else it may be) without "unobtanium." The whole Avatar concept is underdeveloped and compares unfavorablywith the similar concepts in the Matrix. Why is it that an "avatar"made of a mixture of human and Navi DNA is still an exact physicalduplicate of the Navi? Shouldn't it look like a weird hybrid like thecreature in "Splice"? How is it that the avatars cannot think or actfor themselves? Aren't they living creatures? Don't they have their ownbrains? If not, how can they stay alive? Are we supposed to believe that this alien species on Pandora justhappens to be close enough physically to humans that we can find themsexually attractive (as Jake does Neytiri)? The Navi just happen tohave two eyes, and a nose, and a mouth with teeth like ours, and ears,and hair, and breasts, and legs, feet with toes, etc. etc. They arephysically capable of speaking English, amazingly enough. Despite beingaliens from another planet, they are far more similar to humans thanour closest ape relatives on earth. And of course they all havewashboard tummies and the woman have breasts just covered by theirnecklaces.Does the Navi society have to be a mishmash of every stereotype whiteAmericans have about African/aboriginal/Native American culture? Dothey have to be shown apologizing to animals they hunt and kill? (Doesit really matter to a creature if you apologize to it after killingit?) Do the actors portraying the Navi tribes people have to all be ofeither African or American Indian descent? Do they have to speakEnglish with either "African" or "Indian" accents and inflections? Doesthe tribe have to have a male "king" and a female "spiritual leader"?Does Jake's love interest have to be a "princess"? Does he have to beconfronted by an angry "warrior" rival for her affections, who heultimately wins over? Does the tribe really have to worship a big tree?Does the tree really have to be on top of the biggest cache of"unobtanium" on the planet? Are we really expected to believe that if the military decided todeclare all out war on the Navi that it would lose? That spears andanimals could defeat humans who had the technology portrayed in thismovie? Avatar is an insult to the thinking moviegoer, even more than Titanicwas. Most of these logical flaws could be overlooked if it didn't takeitself so seriously. That was the saving grace of the original 1977Star Wars -- it took itself just seriously enough, but was able to winkat itself too. And it had a lot of wit and humor, which are sorelylacking in Avatar. James Cameron clearly believes that Avatar is thegreatest movie ever made. He might not admit it in interviews, but itis painfully obvious he thinks so.He could hardly be more wrong.

fivesaints 2012-05-19 21:58:56

Revolutionary Film of our Time.

First off I will say that as a movie fanatic, this is the best movie Ihave ever seen of all time. The creativity, the acting, the concept,the world and the revolutionary 3D effects. Every little detail aboutthis movie that it offered me as a viewer blew away any other movie Ihave ever seen.With total disaster movies like the Twilight series, Transformers 2,etc...this movie actually creates an engaging storyline and greatacting that beats Twilight New Moon out of the ball park and this moviewas all GREEN screen. I was so ecstatic to see that James Cameron haspresented himself as easily the best director of our generation.The great counterpart of this movie and what was compelling is that itis not a fast-paced DYNAMITE EXPLOSIONS NO MIND TO THINK movie likeTransformers 2. There was great connections between the actors and thisworld Cameron has created. Even for me as a viewer I found myselfconnecting to these people on the screen and wanted to live there atthe end of the movie. When a director can make a story and make theviewer want to live it and feel like he is living it with full effectto the emotion, drama, and sequence of a story his master piece hasbeen created and this is Camerons. AWESOME MOVIE! HANDS DOWN!

crazymonk19 2012-05-19 09:19:57

This movie is now on the list of one of my most favorite movies.

Reading through most of the reviews, people have graded it to what themovie deserved "a high rating". Though some people refused to considerit a great movie, mostly because it lacked in originality and did notlive up to its extremely high expectations. To be honest the moviereally wasn't revolutionary, it was just really good. Thus I stillinsist on giving it a good rating. The movie followed the same concept as many previous movies, being thatmankind is evil and are aggressive consumers of worlds. The movie kindof represents symbolism for both the indigenous people being forced outof their land (Like the Colonist/ Indian conflict). It also representsour war in the sense that our ambition is a war in desire of oil, orsupply. Indeed many movies in the past have based their meaning on thesesubjects, but what is wrong with repetition if the outcome is good? Itis how the concepts are composed is what matters. And I believe that ifany viewer of Avatar, will drop their boundaries; even a little, willlike this movies. Granted the story did not consist of extremely deepmeaning compared to the more popular and intellectual movies, but itstill proved interesting. I must also add that some of the movies thatcritics claim Avatar to have stolen from I have not seen, thus Isuppose their is an exception to have not liked this movie. Still Ienjoyed the story and its' characters.Now as for the visuals, they were better than almost every movie I haveseen, but not revolutionary. As I watched previews of this movie Inoticed a blend between reality and animation, thus I had a highexpectation of the movies' visuals. Unfortunately throughout the movieit was pretty easy to tell when it was animation and when it was not.It was like the matrix in the sense that when Jake entered the alienworld you knew it was not real. Perhaps if the Na'vi were not ascolorful, and in bright colors, my opinion would be otherwise. Despitethat the visuals were still great. I must also point out that in this movie James Cameron has created aninteresting and unique world, in which I compare to even Star Warsitself. The Na'vi are basically gargantuan humans with blue skin andelf ears, but still very cool to look at, even to be attracted too"cough" Neytiri. The creatures and even the futuristic technologyexpressed are simply amazing. So another great feature Avatar contains.Critics of this story would argue against its simplicity as it is awell known concept in terms of a war between natives and conquerors,but it doesn't mean the story was bad. Even if you argue that the mainconflict lacked originality, James Cameron exposed other intriguingideas, such as the transfer of ones mind to another body and even themetaphor between the internet and the planets forest. If you can notenjoy this movie, you are too critical and I recommend dropping yourboundaries, for I assume you would dislike almost every movie, makingyour experience in modern entertainment rather dull, despite theexception I mentioned earlier. In truth this movie may not deserve a 10maybe an 8 or 9, but I give it a 10 to counter those whom give it lowratings for almost ridiculous reasons. I highly recommend seeing Avatar to all people and hope you will enjoyit as much as I have.

ad_upclose 2012-05-14 20:31:46

Entertaining movie with great visuals but one that falls short on good characters and a solid story.

Cameron's 15 year in-the-making vision comes to life in all its visualglory. He envisioned a spectacular world and Peter Jackson's Wetastudios does an amazing job to bring it to life. The attention todetail and the creatures is really impressive. My favorite scenes ofthe movie were the flying ones (jaw-dropping) and the final battle.However, if Cameron had put the same sort of effort towards the storythis would have been a movie for the ages. Too often the movie remindedme of a combination of Dances with Wolves, Jurassic Park, andPocahontas; leading it to be quite predictable. The villains wereone-dimensional, and some scenes were quite unnecessary (tribalmumbo-jumbo), and the whole political and environmental viewpoints. Asfor the 3d aspect of it, yes it does give the viewer an immersiveexperience, but it doesn't make or break the movie in my opinion (I'myet to buy into this whole 3d riff raff) Overall, this is a movie thatshould be seen by everyone for its stunning visuals and for its purelyentertaining adventure story .

Rasalgheti_2000 2012-05-14 06:03:04

A plagiarism.....with good special effects!

Avatar is without a doubt the worst ripoff-remake ever ,i can't believethat no one else has notice, so what do we have here?, OK let's see,the space travel, the remote unexplored world, the hibernation, thehostile extraterrestrials, the marines, the robot suits, SigourneyWeaver!!!! come on!!!! it sounds familiar to you? ....sure it isfamiliar, it sounds like....Aliens(1986) from James Cameron. Mr Cameroncommitted plagiarism but not only with his own work, the script about asoldier who betrayed his own people has nothing of new or original, itis the same premise that The last Samurai (2003) from Edward Zwick, ordances with wolves (1990) from Kevin Costner, so what's new here? onlythe visual effects that are in fact state of the art....Cameron let usdebt after all these years since Titanic, he has no new ideas, onlybetter special effects

BadMF9 2012-05-12 20:28:08

Will satisfy most, but inarguably has many flaws...

Jake Sully is a paraplegic who, because of the genetic matches to hisbrother who died before he could undertake the mission, is sent toPandora, a world inhabited by a native-like culture of blue creaturescalled the Na'Vi. The mission the government has assigned the militaryis to go to Pandora and obtain a rare substance that only Pandorasupplies (*oil). Jake and a couple of his crew-members are reinforcedmentally in these scientifically-created Na'Vi "avatar" bodies, used toplug into the world of Pandora. Jake soon encounters a female Na'Vi,befriends her, and soon gains the trust of the Na'Vi inhabitants, thatis until the military informs him that they will be dropping in soon tonuke them all and take their stuff.Sound familiar?... If you've seen Dances With Wolves, Pocahontus, TheLast of the Mohicans, even an old Disney film called FernGully, thanyou've seen a movie with this plot before. It's not the most originalidea, but it's a good premise to unleash what James Cameron haspromised to be one kick-ass movie, a movie that will revolutionize 3Dand render near photo-realistic CGI. They even developed a newhigh-tech camera for it that was 10 year in the making (the one withthe two lenses) that can capture Cameron's visionary project...Some points:1. James Cameron said this film will change cinema the same way inwhich "The Jazz Singer" did (the first "talky" picture) back in 1927.The problem with this claim to greatness is that the industry back thenknew that developing film so that sound could be used was a necessityfor the future of cinema. If you can see it and hear it, that's all youneed. Does the audience really care if they can smell it and see thingsjumping out of the screen? 3D isn't essential to drive the movie andmake it progress. In some ways, it's almost distracting, things simplypopping out in front of the screen every now and again to wow theaudience, but it only makes Pandora seem less and less real, becausethe sense of depth and realism is shattered.2. What the film manages to do is create 3 plains- background, middle,and foreground. It's quite beautiful scenery, the striking image of themountains in the back while a jet hovers in the foreground. Despitethis, the 3 plains lack depth and they don't feel connected. Perhaps itmust've been mind-blowing in IMAX, though. 3. Needless to say, visually Avatar is tremendous, but at certainscenes the visuals are pretty un-memorable and it becomes a bit dulland repetitive... their's not much flash or style in the direction andits pretty formulaic stuff. The environment of Pandora looks likefirst-rate Miyazoki. I didn't feel like I was right there on Pandora,which was what I had been expecting since I first heard the project wasin development... 4. It was good fun, but incredibly overblown (too long). 5. This is nit-picking, but I never really got myself fully used to thelook of the Na'Vi. They were certainly impressive and incrediblylife-like though.6. As mentioned before, the entire plot is riddled with clichés. I alsofound the entire 'ruthless human invader' ploy and tribal culture ofthe Na'Vi to be gimmicky (cowboys vs. indians). We've all seen thisstuff countless times before, and of course there has to be that onenative villager who doesn't trust in the mysterious 'outsider' andscares the audience into thinking that he might kill him. Avatar is very predictable. Within the first 15 minutes of the film youhave mapped out in your head how the whole movie will turn out; youknow this character will eventually do this and that character will dothat and this and that will happen.7. Even though I was expecting the plot to be cliché, I was at leasthoping it would have some tremendous action sequences, commonlyattributed to James Cameron's eye for great, tense action (Aliens, T2).I was left disappointed with the lackluster, or better-put theformulaic action. The guns popping out of the screen I found lookedreally childish. The battle in the sky however I thought was intenseand engaging, but that last one on one battle with the Col. was lame,him simply springing back up to kill Jake like the Terminator.8. The details in the landscapes were amazing. James Cameron doessucceed at creating a believable, full-fleshed universe, and for that Ipraise this film highly.9. I found the first encounter with the dinosaur-like creatures to beexciting, but overall silly. It's a scene that's basically JurrasicPark with 7-foot Smurfs... 10. Avatar, in spite of its 2 hour 40 minute run-time, doesn't feelcomplete. Something was missing...11. The last thing I disliked was that certains scenes were much toodark with the glasses (though the scenes outside of Pandora were litfine). A film with the scope of Avatar should be presented in bright,eye-popping colors.12. The relationship started off corny but progressed nicely. I likedhow it ended, and was rather moved, predictability aside. Overall a solid 7.5/10. I might give it a rewatch in its 2D version.I'm very surprised at all the 4-star reviews its been getting bycritics. In the UK it's been getting slightly more critical reviews,but overall the praise is overblown. Good movie, visually impressive,but not ground-breaking.

smileys_are_swell 2012-05-12 07:03:55

The Greatest Cinema Experience and Best Movie Ever Made.

James Cameron's Avatar is basically the best movie I have ever seen,and now every other movie doesn't even come close as being as good. Thesetting of the movie takes place on Pandora, a lush, green planetfilled with mystical creatures including the humanoids called theNa'vi. This place is so beautiful and magical to watch, especially atnight where all plants and even the ground light up majestically. Alittle while into the movie I could tell what was going to happen butthere are enough little twists to keep it exciting and not make it feelcliché. I found myself falling in love with the characters and theNa'vi people. I have been twice to this movie in 3D and I could go 5more times. All in all, I don't really need to say much in this reviewand I don't feel I need to convince anyone to go see this movie, justgo see it, and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

ryanvance 2012-05-11 00:41:29

Very Disappointing all of the great CGI in this world could not save this film

I finally saw this film over the weekend. I am a huge fan of the sci-figenre, so why did I wait to see it? After all the Hollywood hype Ifigured (correctly) that this film was all bark and no bite. The storystarted off great, but once the forest scenes started it was seemingall to familiar, Dances with Wolves all over again, just with bluealiens. Except in repeat mode it was even worse. It became very evidentthat the intent of this film was to box up all of the "evil" ideologiesof our society and wrap them up in a kid flick to further brainwash oursociety. There were so many "unbelievable" ideas (even in a Hollywoodfantasy) that I could not take any more. A networked environment ofbeings, plants and animals like some sort of living internet? Floatingpieces of earth with waterfalls that come from no where, I guessgravity does not exist there? Some mineral (unobtainium? give me abreak) that we have no idea what it is. They did not even show thisstuff and we are supposed be believe that it is worth exterminating anentire race for? What was happening on earth that demanded this war? Ifelt like I was back on Endor with the Ewoks. The General even hadscars like Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader. Cameron should have justput him in a black cape. There was absolutely nothing original aboutthis film, very unfortunate. James Cameron used to be a pillar in thesci-fi genre. To make it worse it that the CGI was not that great, themixing of live action made it very apparent what was real and what wasanimated. This film should have been done 100% in CGI and sold as a kidflick. I just don't get where the great reviews are coming from? Iactually fast forwarded through much of the overdrawn "utopian" scenes.James should have just called the planet Utopia instead of Pandora, howoriginal would that be? If you are planning on seeing the film just donot expect to know or care for any of the characters, understand whatit is they are fighting for and give up all notions of generalrelativity as we know it. Just sit back and choke down all of Cameron'sblatant rip-offs.

downin12 2012-05-10 12:53:32

The theme of the movie is focused on plot

Avatar the movie is based on army and scientists from earth travelingto a planet known as Pandora for the excavation of a substance known asunobtainium. The humans have developed avatars to infiltrate the Na'vi. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington)the main character has taken place of hiskilled twin brother the scientist who was suppose to operate the avatarspecifically developed for him along with fellow avatar scientistGrace(Sigourney Weaver), and Norm (Joel David Moore). The theme of the movie is focused on plot in my opinion. This isbecause of the great amount of effort put into the actions and ideasthroughout the movie. However, it has a great emphasis oncharacterization and the idea of the struggle for human dignityaccording to relevant themes in the book The Art of Watching Films(Boggs & Petrie, 2008). This is an adventure story that focuses on what happens, the events.This storyline is an escape from everyday life through the uniquenessof the movie. The characters backgrounds and ideas play a big part ofthis movie with Jake having a military background changing his approachfrom the other avatar scientist. Also the idea of one group of humanswho represent bad (the military) and another who represents good (theNa'vi & scientists) displays the struggle for human dignity. Howeverthe most focus is placed on the plot, the events, such as the fight forSully to walk as an avatar, to do the right things to protect the Na'viand stay true to his military background. Also, the battle that leadsto the epic outcome. This movie is similar to other movies you might enjoy such as The Darkknight, which focuses more on character but plot is a main point of themovie. The Classic Jumanji which focuses on plot, and other movies thatcapture audience's attention such as inception and other James Cameronmovies. One of the techniques used in the film are the motif of the Na'vi'stails which symbolize the connection to every animal, plant andeverything else on Pandora. Which also, symbolizes the same connectionthat humans on earth can have with nature/ or used to have. Anothertechnique is the scenes that are all computer animated to WOW theaudience. This is a big feature to capture the audience's attentionalong with to keep them attentive outside of the battle scenes andother action. References Boggs, J. M., & Petrie, D. W. (2008). The art of watchingfilms. (7th. ed.). Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Leith Aitken 2012-05-09 14:28:48

Avatar (2009)

The most hyped film of 2009 has finally arrived. After years ofplanning and production, James Cameron gives you his masterpiece,Avatar. Everyone is flocking to the cinemas and lining up aroundcorners to experience almost 3 hours of 3D cinema. We enter the cinemaexpecting something huge, yet we come out saying "We've seen it allbefore." The script is ridiculous, the acting is dreadful, and the plotis cliché.When his brother is killed in battle, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully (SamWorthington) decides to take his place in a mission on the distantworld of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead ParkerSelfridge's (Giovanni Ribisi), intentions of driving off the nativehumanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scatteredthroughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery thatwill fix his legs, Jake gathers information for the cooperatingmilitary unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang),while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with theuse of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the nativetribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri (ZoeSaldana), the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthlessextermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fightback in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.When I say the plot is cliché, I mean we saw this in Pocahontas andFern Gully. The humans are trying to rip up the rainforest and thenative tribe is trying to stop them? We've seen it all before. Afterhearing all the hype over this film, I was expecting something new ordifferent and I wasn't satisfied. Also, the acting was terrible.Sigourney Weaver is exempt from this statement because she was the onlyone in this film who was convincing. Sam Worthington who plays JakeSully is atrocious, although I do believe the script has something todo with this. The script, written by James Cameron himself, isappalling. An exclamation would be "Oh sh*t", and Jake Sully's thoughtson his Avatar is "Sweet". Plus, the very rare rock they are after whichis worth a lot more than gold, is called "Unobtanium". No furthercomment needed.Cinema goers have the option to see Avatar in either 2D or 3D. I hadthe chance to see it in 3D. For anyone who is not aware of what 3Dfilms are like, or haven't had the chance to see one, my piece ofadvice would be to sit near the front. This will allow you to becompletely immersed in the film and not be distracted by the fact thatthe 3D image ends near the walls of the cinema. Critics and film buffsare stating that 3D cinema is going to be the biggest thing thisdecade. I've got a feeling that it might be big but do I think it'sgoing to revolutionise cinema? No. It makes films fun but when youcompare it to how much filmmakers are spending on 3D, eventually therewill be a time when they aren't making enough money compared to whatthe are spending on it to continue.In my eyes, Avatar is a very clichéd and poorly written film. However,it still is quite an experience and anyone who is even vaguelyinterested in the film-world will want to see this in 3D in thecinemas. Please, sit near the front and go into this film with an openmind. I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience, but I'm doubtful you'llenjoy it for the plot and script. 3 stars. ***

2012-05-08 19:29:05

3D please!

Im still holding out for the 3D release! I have the original Blu-Ray movie and it's fantastic even after watching it a "few" times, but I just want the flick in 3D with all those extras. Im a collector but I don't need 3, 4, or 5 versions of the same movie. Just sell me the "ultimate" 3D edition and im good!...Thank you Mr. Cameron and I can't wait for "Battle Angel" and "Avatar 2 & 3".

Misagh 2012-05-06 18:36:50

After a decade, Cameron sets the avatar of our new generation

I had the rather intense privilege to view James Cameron's muchanticipated $400 million budget return to the directing scene, Avatar,at the Empire Leicester Square in London.Where to begin! The visuals in this pieces was groundbreaking. He didit with the Terminator series and then Titanic, so one would expectCameron to deliver... and HE DID! The visual are by far some of thesharpest CGI I have seen. You could almost say that there is a disquietthat follows Cameron's soul, as there is no other possibility of thisstrong and intensified quality. Its production design and visualeffects are both noteworthy and it will get its praise upon officialrelease.What it was lacking that really should have shaped the movie is itscharacter/story. I was expecting a complex and believable plot, but wasleft with a movie with mostly strong visuals. What most sci-fi loversdesire is mind-bending philosophies, fantasy and exploration andlimitations of our or outer species. If it was not for this factor, Iwould give this a 9.5 vote.Avatar will be a success, not only because of Cameron's legacy, but byvery intelligent and viral marketing. Avatar have had a powerfulmarketing technique that assembles other successful blockbusters, suchas The Blair Witch project (you all remember it), The Dark Knight(Joker invades the world) and also, the current production The Artifice(the-artifice.com) that is intelligently targeting the market.Kudos to Cameron, Avatar is one of the (if not The) movie of the year.I could get in trouble for sharing this with you guys so early, soplease click Yes on "Was the above comment useful to you?" as a thankyou. ;)

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat 2012-05-06 07:21:15

A thematically rich and imaginative sci-fi masterpiece that gives us a cosmology totally in sync with contemporary spirituality movements -- reverence for the Earth as a living being and Oneness consciousness celebrating the interconnectedness of all.

jjnagler 2012-05-05 00:55:20

Movie with meaning. Wake-up call to our current vicious way of exploiting Nature.

MUST SEE. The only movie I watch more than once in cinema. This movie has a soul, meaning, a message.It makes accessible how disconnected most of our thinking and economyare from our true nature. It illustrates the mis-understanding of theWest and indigenous cultures, and how nature is exploited.When will we wake up to see how we exploit Mother Nature? When willre-connect with nature and the Spirit World? The animations are done superb, the flying scenes are breathtaking,nature is shown in its magic, you can actually identify with thecharacters and dive deeply into the story and journey.Enjoy the movie, best in 3D.

de_Biafra 2012-05-04 14:50:59

Fabrication of reviews is standard PR

It's sad to see how movies are being sold these days. It takes a coupleof hundred staff employers to write 10-50 reviews each praising themovie to get it rated as one hell of a film. With a budget way overnormal - they can afford it - and it pays off. It's truly sad, 'causethis film is so boring and uninteresting but still critics, andmagazines as well, are bought just to secure high sales and nominationsetc. Only the aftermath cannot be controlled, yet, and luckily so.Because in a couple of years this movie will go down as one of manyminor movies and take the position it truly deserves - and yes! It'snot one of the "amazing experiences", or: "Best movie ever!!!" DUH!Well, you got your few dollars, you sold your soul, and we got thisbooooring story wrapped up as the Emperor's new wardrobe. 3 stars forvisuals - 0 for story, and 1 for total experience.

lymond01 2012-05-02 02:39:13

Way beyond expectations

The build up over the past year for this movie was enormous and,hearing the basic storyline and then the comments after some saw themovie about its lack of originality but stupendous imagery, I went inwith mediocre expectations at best.It got me. The imagery was indeed amazing, the plot simple yet soeffectively done there were times I was holding back tears and times Iwas outraged at what was happening on-screen. The characters arestereotypes for the most part, but in an epic film trying to make astatement, sometimes archetypes work best. It keeps your head fromgetting too cluttered with side-plots and nebulous developments. Thismovie's message is clear and well told.After all the hype and putting off being trapped in a seat for 3 hours,am I glad I finally saw it. No question: for me, it'll hit my top 10movies of all time. It's that good. I actually still haven't seenTitanic (but you won't spoil the ending for me if you tell me the boatsinks), but James Cameron certainly managed an amazing film here interms of world-building, message-bringing, and even getting some trueemotion out of the watchers, which is really rare in mainstream films.Good stuff, Mr. Cameron.

ithmaril 2012-05-01 16:05:31

It feels so good to be a fanboy again.

I did my best to keep the expectations low, but it didn't quite workout. I mean, it's a movie directed by James Cameron, featuring sassybadass Space Marines, evil corporations, power armor, and SigourneyWeaver. That's the closest I'll ever get to a direct Aliens sequel,definitely one of my top 5 movies of all time and inspiration ofcountless wet military sci-fi dreams.On the other hand, although trying to stay spoiler-free, I kinda didexpect something that would turn me off on a certain levels, hearingthings about "dances with wolves" in space and a straight greenmessage, delivered in black and white, without the necessary shades ofgrey in between. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving the planet andrespecting the natives, but I like my messages delivered in a subtleway that makes me care, instead of the sledgehammer-in-your-facemethod. See "the day the earth stood still" remake. Bah, humbug.Third point: My first movie in 3d. Wasn't sure how it would work outfor me with my glasses, and if it would enhance or distract from theexperience. Really, I had no clue.So. here's a spoiler-free, very personal summary of what I think: Go.See. That. Movie.In a nutshell: It's flawed, but for me, a flawless experience. It'sextremely CGI-heavy (something I couldn't be more sceptic about), butit's CGI you buy into. The designs, the human characters, the animatedcharacters, there's just... chemistry. The illusion is there and makesyou overlook the obvious. The plot is predictable, but it didn't giveme time to predict, because it gripped me and didn't let me go. See, amovie can have the most blatant story, the question is how it isdelivered by the people involved, from the actors to the director.That's the theory, and I was always sceptic of such gibberish. But boy,it was delivered, straight to my inner child, on a silver plate full ofawesome. It immersed me. It worked. I was in awe. I was in tears. I wascheering. The whole premise, the parallels to our history, the message,the love story, it's all naive. And I'm so glad that it just shut the**** up that cynic in me in the most elegant way for three hours andmade me naive and open for the beauty and wit and wonder in it. Ididn't think I was still capable of that, but I watched that movie withthe wide, blue eyes of a fourteen year old, enjoying a thrilling,heartbreaking mix of "ALIENS" and "E.T.".Also, sh** blows up really good.See, the Star Wars prequels were something that should have been justthat. Instead, I was pulled out of it and shaking my head all over theplace. I was pulled out by wooden, badly-directed actors actingconfused in front of too much blue screen. I was pulled out byhalf-assed cartoony CGI characters. By video game sequences ofunbelievable combat and plot holes as big as a small moon.And here's the movie where it's all so flawless, human and elegant-characters, effects, delivery- that I gladly overlook its faults andenjoy it for what makes it awesome. Here's the spiritual successor ofthe movies I grew up with and loved, that just left me dreaming.Suddenly I remember how it was to watch 1977's Star Wars for the veryfirst time. Grinning, crying, cheering and clapping.This is it. But don't listen to me, I'm being a biased fanboy here.See? It managed to make me a biased fanboy. Nothing has done that in adecade. And it feels so good!