Avatar
To sum it up, Avatar was the most amazing and awe inspiring movie event I have ever witnessed. I saw the movie in an IMAX 3D theater with all that that entails. The total experience was something greater than the sum of its parts.

The storyline is not a new one if you have read science fiction or have seen movies like Dances with Wolves or even Ferngully. This is not really a knock against the movie though. This is how a lot of fiction works is it not? You take an idea and adapt it for a new area or genre. The plot certainly had some unique points and it had some moments where I felt genuinely touched. So while the plot was nothing groundbreakingly stellar, I certainly don’t feel like it held the movie back as some people had previously suggested.

If I had seen the movie in a traditional theater with no 3D, this would be the sum of the review and the movie would have been rated lower. But I saw it in an IMAX 3D theater. It seemed (because it was) that the movie had been made specifically for this stage. The movie is a mix between live action and CG that was initially shot in 3D. Most movies are ‘retrofitted’ with 3D but not Avatar. It was designed and shot with the medium in mind and it clearly shows. I don’t want to belabor the point, but this movie is visually stunning. The planet created in the world is something to behold and probably more so because it takes liberties with physics. But it’s an alien world, we can get away with that right? Also, sitting in the IMAX theater, the sound system was amazing. Amazingly loud to be more accurate. At one point during the movie, there were massive tress falling down around the camera and I could feel the bass rattling my legs as they feel. It really added to the atmosphere. If this is what 3D movies will look like in the near term, then I think the gimmick is here to stay. But, since it took something like 15 years for this movie to be made, it’s likely that the next 3D movie we see will not resemble the epic grandiosity of Avatar.

The movie is long, it clocks in a 2:42 and while it doesn’t go by faster than you’d think neither doesn’t it seem to drag on. It probably could’ve stood to be a little shorter but at 15 years in the making, I’d want to get every minute in that I could. And you know when it was all over, I wouldn’t have minded sitting there a bit longer. My only complaint isn’t with the movie itself but with the glasses we had to wear. Mine were really uncomfortable and hurt the bridge of my nose so I had to keep readjusting. If they ever settle on a 3D protocol for these movies, I wouldn’t be surprised to see ‘permanent’ glasses that individuals can bring with them rather than getting the disposable ones from the theaters.

Not since Jurassic Park have I felt the same sense of wonder that I felt while watching Avatar. The first time I saw a dinosaur go stumbling across the screen in Jurassic Park, my mouth fell open. I am a bit more jaded now so my mouth didn’t fall open during Avatar, but there was definitely a sense of excitement welling up inside of me. Avatar, when viewed as a total package, is the most entertaining movie experience I have ever had. And if truth be told, these types of experiences are what would get me to come back to the cinema. I can’t reproduce that experience at home. If the movie industry wants to do better at the theaters, they need to start wowing people again. The technology is there, it’s just a matter of time before we can tell if the will is there as well.

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