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Avatar -- a Review
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
For years, James Cameron had an idea in his head for a sci-fi/fantasy movie, but he felt that the technology available wouldn't and couldn't do his project justice. Then came Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings", and "King Kong". Both of these movies featured motion capture technology. At last the technology was there, and "Avatar" became possible. "Avatar" is a magnificent epic (2 hours 40 minutes) about a paraplegic marine who travels to a distant planet (It takes 6 years to get there.) called Pandora to participate in his dead brother's place in an avatar program. The idea is to mix the DNA of one of the local inhabitants called the Na'vi, with human DNA, and creat a mental interface that connects the human controller with the avatar. The human lies down in what kinda looks like a tanning bed while the avatar is active. When the avatar sleeps, the connection with the human breaks, allowing the human to leave the contraption and live his human life. The fun part is that the Na'vi are 10 foot tall blue creatures with tails. Earth at this time has expended almost all of its natural resources. The planet Pandora is abundant in a particular mineral called "unobtainium" (get it?) that will solve Earth's problems. So a mining company sets up a strip mining operation on the planet. The Na'vi are not exactly pleased with the idea of seeing their planet raped by strip-mining, so it becomes necessary for the mining company to hire mercenaries to protect the operations from the Na'vi. The paraplegic marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) although part of the avatar program, is still technically under command of the base security commander Colonel Quaritch (wonderfully played by Steven Lang). Quaritch wants Sully to get to know the Na'vi and convince them not to interfere with the mining operations. He also wants Sully to give him useful information that could be used in a military operation against the Na'vi if needed. Once Sully learns how to manipulate his avatar, off he goes into the Pandoran jungle along with Dr. Grace Augustine (Signourney Weaver) who has her own avatar. They become separated. Sully tries to cope with the creatures in the Pandoran jungle but in the end ends up being unwillingly rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who is the daughter of a local tribal king (Wes Studi). Sully becomes enamored with Neytiri (and vice versa) and soon finds himself falling in love with her, the Na'vi, and Pandora in general. This brings him into direct conflict with his orders from Colonel Quaritch. The plot unfolds from there. The movie is a cinematic masterpiece. Pandora features a wide variety of exotic creatures and plants, floating mountains and an incredible looking night sky. As for the 10 foot tall blue Na'vi, they are all motion capture CG technology creatures. But you get so involved in the wonder of Pandora, you don't even notice that you are dealing with a whole bunch of computer generated and motion capture "stuff". The characters seem real and even look like the actors that portray them. I saw this movie in both 2D and 3D. Both versions are great, though I recommend you see the 3D version at least once. This movie is going to win a whole bunch of academy awards.
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I'm not a fan of sci/fi movies, but you did a great review on this one.
Thank you for sharing.
Keep the intels coming.
Frederick
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as well. I had not paid attention to the hype and was pleasantly surprised.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Yeah...I've already seen it 4 times.... I'm becoming an Avatar nerd.
Jim
Phew! Thanks for this review and synopsis. You just saved me 2 hours and 40 minutes! I'll know what people are talking about and understand the references which will doubtless be brought into the popular culture, as all successful movies tend to do. (I once met a woman and was asked my name. For some reason I decided not to give my real name and said "Jack" instead. She said, "Then I'm Rose!" and not having seen Titanic I was utterly perplexed Huh??? What could she mean by that?)
 | | nick Jan 11, 2010 11:38 | |
I am a complete sucker for these type of movies. They allow the imagination to run wild and free, something which should happen to us all naturally, but it doesn't. The lead actor, Sam Worthington, is an Aussie and therefore, the film gets ANOTHER vote from me. *smiles* I haven't seen the movie yet, but after reading your intel James, it is at the top of my 'must see' list. Thanks for revving me up.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
You are quite welcome sir. Glad I could be of service.
Jim
Great review - I loved Avatar I have to say. Well written and I look forward to your next snippet of writing.
Blessings
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thank you. Avatar won 2 Golden Globes last night: Best Picture and Best Director.
Blessings back to ya
I haven't seen the movie yet but from your description it sounds like the plot of Dances with Wolves only animated fast action Science Fiction. Go out and control the enemy and fall in love and find out the "enemy" is actually on the right side.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Yeah... It's kinda Dances With Wolves meets Star Wars. Throw in a take-off on a speech from Braveheart, and add some Lion King elements and a Lion King type ending and you've got it. Thanks for your comment.
I can't wait to see it. James Cameron teams up with Sigourney Weaver again, it's gotta be good! It's funny you say you've seen it 4 times, this has to be the #1 movie for seeing over and over again. So many people are saying they saw it 6 or 7 times already. That says something! My partner is already playing the game on the iPod Touch - even though we haven't been able to see the movie yet. So, when you see it in 3D do they give you those funny glasses at the theater, or what?
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Yep, you get the funny glasses. But this 3D is what they call "Real D". They don't do any fancy stuff to deliberately throw things at you so that you duck in your seat. It's simply designed to immerse you into the story better.
Oh wow, can't wait. I think I definitely need to see it first in 3D! Then I can get the DVD and watch it over and over 
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
LOL. I think you're gonna get hooked. I hope that you enjoy it.
Regards,
Jim
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