Saw Avatar a few weeks back, but since I have a blog now I'm going to give it a brief review.
First things first, I loved it. It's three hours long but I was captivated the whole way through. In fact, I didn't want it to end.
My good friend Ian, who's a psytrance DJ, went to see the film three times because he loved it so much, and I think one of the reasons for this (besides it being a great film overall) is its psychedelic visuals. The Na'vi forest looks like the most beautifully decorated psytrance club you can imagine.
What the visual style is also reminiscent of is JRPGs. It's the first Hollywood film I think I can say that about, and that's fantastic, especially bearing in mind that the film isn't even Japanese. I love the JRPG aesthetic, with its stylised, graphic designy creatures, ultraviolet colours, and its mix of luscious greenery and foliage with ridiculous cybermecha.
This is such a breath of fresh air, as it seems like the fantasy genre has been dominated by dark gothicness for a long time now, which I'm not a fan of at all.
Story wise, it's just the kind of thing I like. It doesn't matter to me that it has the same template as many other films (Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, The Last Samurai). It's a tried and tested formula and it works every time. I felt the right emotions where I should do.
Here are its only flaws:
- I would have preferred there to have been more time developing the relationship before we believe our main couple to be in love.
- A smoother transition from hardened woman to empathetic woman for Sigourney Weaver's character.
Other than that, this is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen for a long time. Highly recommended.
I've just seen Avatar myself, being one of the last, as usual with anything really mainstream. I felt a certain duty to see it, as I’m a sucker for hype, and I couldn’t last out for much longer. My expectations weren’t that high, I normally have no interest fantasy (still don't get LOTR), not really sold on 3D and despite the pressure to cave into the hype I still remember the anticlimax that was The Phantom Menace.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've got to say that it's one of the best films I have seen at the cinema in years. I was completely captivated by this film. Even though it is almost three hours long, I was held from start to finish, I almost forgot I’m the fidgety guy in the cinema.
I agree with your assessment, especially with the development of the relationship of the lead love interest and Sigourney Weaver's character. The 3D in the title certainly doesn't refer to characters. The Colonel is a pantomime villain, cut and pasted from any number of films. But I don’t think it mattered; the sheer vision of the project overwhelmed everything. Usually with a film like this you’d feel any further development would force the film to run for too long, yet in this case another hour still wouldn’t have left me feeling bored.
I saw this film the day after seeing Invictus, based on a true story, directed by Clint Eastwood. Invictus deals with subjects much closer to my heart (namely Politics and Rugby) and bettered Avatar in every way on paper, better acting, better story, better character development (with the exception of music, which needs to be heard in order to appreciate how truly awful it is in Invictus), yet it is Avatar that had the much greater effect on me.
I was intrigued by your comparison to Japanese visuals, I can certainly see your line of thought, the particular screenshots you anchor your post with are highly reminiscent of Tidus and Yuna in Lake Macalania, but the overall impression art wise for me was the work of Roger Dean. It does seem in stark contrast, as you say, to the usual ‘gothic’ look of many fantasy films. This can only be a good thing IMHO.
The renowned critic Roger Ebert said that it reminded him of the first time he saw Star Wars, just the breathtaking effects and sense of adventure, a sort of triumph of vision over substance. I always thought that my ‘Star Wars’ moment, the Star Wars of my generation was The Matrix. I’m beginning to think I’m wrong.