Avatar Review

You won't find many movie reviews on this site, but I feel I do have to speak up about the highly anticipated ones. (Sorry, New Moon.)

Last night, I saw Avatar. This Sci-Fi action movie has been hyped as much about its exorbitant cost as its amazing production value. Knowing that a lot of Hollywood types don't have high hopes for its financial success, I went in with low expectations. I love when I do that, because most of the time, the movie seems better (Star Trek, anyone?). Last night was no different.

Avatar is an amazing visual spectacle with CG effects that have once again raised the bar for the industry. The CG aliens -- the Na'vi -- almost make Gollum seem like Yoda. (Most of you will get that reference.) The world that director James Cameron envisioned is truly impressive. It's a wondrous world that's a work of art at every turn.

However, the story left something to be desired. The story (SPOILER ALERT) of "man goes to foreign land, befriends the natives, and fights his original people" is derivative of numerous stories told countless times before ... Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai, and every fourth episode of Star Trek. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past this. At every plot turn, you know what's coming, because you've seen it before in different wrapping.

Avatar is one of those movies you do really need to see on the big screen to appreciate. And while I'm not a fan of 3D, the 3D version of this movie wasn't distracting or gratuitous (save one scene). I predict that it won't make its money back, because at the end of the day, it's a Sci-Fi love story. It won't play to a large enough audience. I rate it a B+.

Update on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 12:05PM by Matthew Snodgrass

Okay, clearly I was wrong about Avatar not making its money back. It passed a billion dollars in box office receipts in 17 days. It seems that enough people are impressed with the cinematography of the movie over the retold story. I've also heard from people that it's a movie that you really need to see in the theater and in 3D. That latter point raises the ticket prices for screenings by around 30-40%, so that only helps the box office. It's actually on pace to surpass Titanic.

Update on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 12:30PM by Matthew Snodgrass

As a follow-up to the "borrowed" Avatar storyline, I came across this very funny and poignant reference to Avatar's plot's likeness to Pocohontas.