Devir Kahan

The Thing With Avatar

// January 10th, 2010 // Entertainment, Media, Video

This past Friday I went to go see the movie Avatar. I had been wanting to see it for quite a while, but just didn’t get the chance. There was, as I’m sure you know, a ton of hype around the movie, and it really sounded like the reviews were really all positive.

Well, I think so too. The movie was absolutely amazing. If you have not seen it, go. Now. The movie is amazing in 3D – something you won’t get (at least not anytime soon) when it comes out on DVD. Plus, you are just missing out on a truly incredible masterpiece.

That’s just the thing though. This movie is a masterpiece of the most complex CGI and special effects in a movie ever. James Cameron did an unbelievable job. The world and the creatures on it were breathtaking. Watching the movie I just wished I could go see Pandora myself. Only after did I realize that it was not a real planet. It was an incredible thing to witness. And that is the point that the few negative reviews were harping on. That it was an amazing thing to see, sure. Everyone agrees to that. But they argue that there was really nothing great about the plot or the story line, which is, let’s face it, the most important part of the movie.

I disagree though. Strongly. Sure, the plot seemed in ways a little generic, and certainly doesn’t compare to the plot of a movie like The Dark Knight, but at the same time there was something special with this one. The thing with Avatar is that the Plot was dual layered. I am not going to completely explain how this plays out because I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t seen it, but all I will say is that it is crucial. The fact that the humans controlled their “Avatar” added a lot more to the story than meets the eye. Without the humans in the machine controlling them, the Avatars would collapse. This created a whole other layer to the story which you were constantly thinking and worrying about. It wasn’t just the creatures of Pandora, but the story of the humans as well. They were separate and together at the same time. It was absolute genius.

The special effects were superb and the world was unbelievably immersive. They didn’t seem to show of the 3D too much just for the sake of doing so which is good, although it was a very nice touch at certain parts. But I feel the plot stands for itself as well. I think it was really good. It wasn’t as complex or unbelievably well planned out and developed as other movies (again, *The Dark Knight*), but I still think the movie as a whole was exceptionally well done.

I enjoyed Avatar and recommend strongly that you go see it. It really was an excellent movie and the technological advancements and the new bar for making movies that Cameron set are certainly substantial to say the very least. Of course there are other movies to be seen (and I never seem to have time to see very many), but Avatar is a movie that I will certainly remember for some time to come, and, asides from just making the most money from a movie in the box office, was an incredible achievement and an massive success. James Cameron has indeed done it again.