Avatar
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Jay and I finally got to Avatar last night, seeing the 3D but not IMAX version at the cineplex. When I started seeing ads, I thought I wouldn't like it. But the reviews were consistently stellar, and I knew several people who also thought they wouldn't like it and did. And I'm a true believer in exposing yourself to stuff that you don't think you'll like. It's good exercise.
I did like it a lot. James Cameron, the guy is just a visual genius. I'm often left speechless by video art in museums and galleries, which is uniformly visually uninteresting. Mainstream film is where video art is taking place, and it doesn't get better than this. I started searching the web for images to include in this post, and I really couldn't find many that accurately conveyed the beauty of the film.
I also appreciated the way Cameron dealt with women in the movie. Gender is kind of a moot point. Women are just there in the same way that men are; there aren't gender politics---no one is being oppressed or fighting against it, for that matter. That's refreshing. The nudity of the Navi people is not exploitative or even that noticeable. I give the guy high marks for this---not easy to pull off.
Cameron's big weakness, here as with Titanic, is his writing. At best, it's serviceable; at worst, it's cliched and cringe-inducing. The story itself was engaging, but every plot point was predictable, every character a stereotype. I thought Zoe Saldana was amazing; the rest of the actors did journeyman work. And while Cameron is a great visual director, his direction of the story and characters---in contrast to his direction of landscape, physicality, and action scenes---was pretty stale. I found myself saying over and over, "Next he's going to have the character do this" or "The next shot will be this."
The last action scene could have been cut in half. Not only was it too long but it got increasingly unbelievable; I ended up losing my connection and suspension of disbelief. Still, I thought it was a great movie, and I'm so glad I got out to see it on the big screen in 3D.
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Jay and I finally got to Avatar last night, seeing the 3D but not IMAX version at the cineplex. When I started seeing ads, I thought I wouldn't like it. But the reviews were consistently stellar, and I knew several people who also thought they wouldn't like it and did. And I'm a true believer in exposing yourself to stuff that you don't think you'll like. It's good exercise.
I did like it a lot. James Cameron, the guy is just a visual genius. I'm often left speechless by video art in museums and galleries, which is uniformly visually uninteresting. Mainstream film is where video art is taking place, and it doesn't get better than this. I started searching the web for images to include in this post, and I really couldn't find many that accurately conveyed the beauty of the film.
I also appreciated the way Cameron dealt with women in the movie. Gender is kind of a moot point. Women are just there in the same way that men are; there aren't gender politics---no one is being oppressed or fighting against it, for that matter. That's refreshing. The nudity of the Navi people is not exploitative or even that noticeable. I give the guy high marks for this---not easy to pull off.
Cameron's big weakness, here as with Titanic, is his writing. At best, it's serviceable; at worst, it's cliched and cringe-inducing. The story itself was engaging, but every plot point was predictable, every character a stereotype. I thought Zoe Saldana was amazing; the rest of the actors did journeyman work. And while Cameron is a great visual director, his direction of the story and characters---in contrast to his direction of landscape, physicality, and action scenes---was pretty stale. I found myself saying over and over, "Next he's going to have the character do this" or "The next shot will be this."
The last action scene could have been cut in half. Not only was it too long but it got increasingly unbelievable; I ended up losing my connection and suspension of disbelief. Still, I thought it was a great movie, and I'm so glad I got out to see it on the big screen in 3D.
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1:21 PM
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