Avatar:The Last Filmmaker OR Completely Avatarded

[Kroze]

Prepare for Kroze's spoiler free, mind blown away review...
Ready?
You sure?
Okay...

HO-LY FUCKING SHIT OH MY GOD THAT WAS FUCKING AMAZING.

Now first off with the story being very "traditional" and even heavy handed at times, I think its story was AMAZINGLY well done and tasteful despite it being tried and true. What Cameron does with it brings it to new levels.
And I don't think calling it a Disney-esc plot is a bad thing in this case... its just HIGHLY accessible to a huge population.
It's characters were REAL... like I felt for them.
The story WAS Dances With Wolves + The Last Samurai IN SPACE!
But it was also so much more then just that.
Just because it was predictable and done before doesn't mean the plot is immedately BAD... its what you do with it and James Cameron does a FUCK TON with it.

Also, what James Cameron movie DOESN'T have those cheesy one liners?
The one liners we keep quoting from 20 years ago! "I'll be back!" "Esta la vista baby!"
I don't think it would have been a James Cameron movie without them being there and they helped make the movie feel a lot more easy going.
This is a sci-fi movie for the masses keep in mind.
We are getting our hardcore Sci-Fi James Cameron movie in 4 years with Battle Angel which he has even admitted to being a much more niche film with how its gonna be.

Ignoring all the special effects and AMAZING AMAZING CGI (I haven't even seen the movie in IMAX 3D yet and I was STILL squealing like a fat kid in Willy Wonka's candy factory), It still is a great movie just from the way the story was handled, the characters and the acting... especially from Sam Worthington who I hated with a passion back in Terminator Salvation. he really shows off his acting chops here.
Michelle Rodriguez also deserves a mention due to I DIDN'T HATE HER FOR ONCE IN A MOVIE. For once I didn't want her to die horribly in a fire (Still not gonna stop calling her Ana-Lucia though... EVER).
The standout actor out of the entire cast was totally Stephen Lang and his portrayal of Quaritch as a military man who will NOT give up, even to the last breath.
He went far above and beyond a lot of other movie villains I think because he felt REAL, there was no real point where he went over the top evil at all that made me go "Okay, he is now a larger than life, over the top villain". They gave him weight and depth that Lang was able to portray amazingly well and gave us a guy we love to hate despite being all badass.

Now the effects and the CGI... or as I like to call it as I was doing so all through the movie OH MY FUCKING GOD THE WATER! THE WATER IS REAL! THE WAY IT REACTS HOLY FUCK! DID YOU SEE THAT FIRE AND THE REALISTIC SHADOWS ITS CASTING ON ITS ENVIROMENT! OH MY GOD THE WATER ON THEIR FACES AND HOW IT REACTS WTF??!?!? WIND ALSO REALISTIC!!??!?! *splooge*
And that was only in the first 10 minutes of the movie.. and yet it didn't stop at ALL for the entire rest of the movie.
I now believe Pandora IS a real place... its where James Cameron has been for the past 10 years, laughing at George Lucas who is most likely in the bathtub right now singing Linkin Park songs to himself while crying and posting on his live journal "WHERE DID I GO WRONG?!?!? HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEE?!??!?!"
For a lot of the movie, my brain just couldn't believe that it was mostly CGI. It all looked REAL.
And the Navi are the most realistic CGI aliens... no wait... no.. the most realistic aliens, CGI or not, I have ever seen on film EVER.
Their emotions, the way they moved... I was losing myself throughout the entire movie.

I do not wanna imagine how long it took this movie to render the CGI. I really don't.

All in all, possibly one of the greatest movies I have ever seen and that is even with ignoring the groundbreaking special effects and CGI usage.
My biggest complaint was the pacing of the movie was sometimes a bit... well... off...
And the thing that happens half way through the movie with Michelle Rodriguez's character feels somewhat out of left field.
James Cameron, known for being a merciless editor and cutting 20 minutes of plot oriented stuff from several of his movies out obviously cut a few scenes which I think should not have been cut even though the movie was running long already.
The nice thing is this isn't an action film... this film takes its time to build up all its MANY many characters and plot threads and the world we NEED to believe in and care about to make the epic final battle all the more worth it.
And once the movie really gets going you best hold on to your pants because it is gonna be one wild ride.

This will definitely define a LOT of filmmaking over the course of the next decade.
James Cameron accomplished his goal and then some with this masterpiece of a movie and EVERYONE needs to see this film at LEAST once in their lives.
I hope to god they are able to make back the estimated $300 to $400 MILLION spent making this endavour of blood, sweat and tears.
The amount of love and quality put into this project really shows and I plan on going back as soon as possible to see it in IMAX 3D when I get the chance.... like in an hour...

I give this movie 9.5 out of 10.
Simply amazing... a true epic cinematic masterpiece of film.

Why the fuck are you STILL reading this??
GO OUT AND SEE IT NOW!!!

Ahem... so... um... anyone else here see it yet?

^_^()

[Matt]

9/10 because deus ex machina is bullshit, but everything else was great.

-m

[Kroze]

9/10 because deus ex machina is bullshit, but everything else was great.

-m

Well it REALLY isn't deus ex machina... but it also IS... considering the planet IS their own god and its a GIANT HUGE FUCKING BRAIN THAT EVERYTHING ON THE PLANET CAN INTERFACE WITH.

It's alive... and angry... VERY angry...
Do not piss it off...

[Theremin]

Aw, I was really hoping it'd be terrible...

[Cake]

I'm not gonna see it. It gives me the creeps every time I see the blue alien guys.

[Cybren]

I will wait until it's on DVD so as to punish james cameron for making a billion dollar movie

[TorachiKatashi]

Aw, I was really hoping it'd be terrible...

+1

[Dave-O_Boy]

I'm not gonna see it. It gives me the creeps every time I see the blue alien guys.

This.

The alien design is horrible regardless of how well the movie supposedly is.

[Thysane]

Ok, I have yet to see the film (though I do intend to), but I just have to ask one thing... why is it that human-shaped aliens are always the good guys?

[Evil Jim]

I'm not gonna see it. It gives me the creeps every time I see the blue alien guys.

This.

The alien design is horrible regardless of how well the movie supposedly is.

They're not the aliens, they are the natives on that planet. We are the aliens. That's sort of the point of the movie. And how the hell are they supposed to look.

Anyway, Fern Gully meets Tron, but it a good way. Very pretty regardless of the predictable story. I enjoyed it.

[Cybren]

No, they're the aliens because they're alien to us.

[Nevrmore]

The reviews for this seem really dichotomous to me. Kroze and Matt are the first I've seen who've given it really glowing reviews to match their scores. It seems that everything else I read is "The CGI is spectacular, but it fails in all regards to story-telling, dialogue, character development, and entertainment. 8/10."

[epocalypse]

i'll probably see it, and i'm imagining it'll be decent. still, it'll probably be a failure because of the absolutely absurd amounts of money it needs to earn. Also, I do find the Aliens to be too deep in the uncanny valley for my tastes (based on the trailers), and really, considering that they're world is in the same range of colors as our world, it's a bit weird that these creatures are bright blue. Seems like a huge evolutionary disadvantage considering that they don't live that near water. I don't know why this bothers me so much but... jeez, at least smurfs are small, you know? these guys are all a minimum Bill height, and they're fluorescent blue.

[Evil Jim]

Epocalypse, their whole world is of bright, vivid colour. Their skin tones make sense when you see more of where they live.

[Kroze]

The reviews for this seem really dichotomous to me. Kroze and Matt are the first I've seen who've given it really glowing reviews to match their scores. It seems that everything else I read is "The CGI is spectacular, but it fails in all regards to story-telling, dialogue, character development, and entertainment. 8/10."

People are confusing predictable and traditional storytelling with BAD along with doesn't take itself too seriously.
Every Pixar movie is predictable so does that make every Pixar movie bad?

Seems like a huge evolutionary disadvantage considering that they don't live that near water.

Actually they do... and the whole planet is very tropical..

[epocalypse]

I'll take your word for it till i see it Jim, it seemed to be primarily greens (albeit it bright greens) and browns and grays in the trailers, but I guess that's just a faulty premise off limited exposure.

[Cybren]

Pixar movies aren't "predictable", they're well told stories. that does not mean that a predictable movie is a well-told story.

[Evil Jim]

I'll take your word for it till i see it Jim, it seemed to be primarily greens (albeit it bright greens) and browns and grays in the trailers, but I guess that's just a faulty premise off limited exposure.

"Fern Gully meets Tron." Remember that.

[octopimpostor]

"Fern Gully meets Tron." Remember that.

Yeah thats what i was thinking, Ferngully deffinently. that was the only bad part of the movie. it gave the message of "don't kill anything. nothing needs to die. we can all get along and live peacefully." thats a bullshit idea. treehugger movie... which is why i hate the movie so much. cause its AMAZING!. i hate the idea because my dad is in the lumber business. and the whole quote about "we have no green on our planet anymore" pissed me the fuck off. my brother had the best quote ever on his facebook. "WOW, Avatar was a pretty movie. Not only that, but it taught me a really important lesson about taking care of our environment: dont kill trees with incendiary missiles, Axes and saws work better."

[AgentGray]

i hope for my own sake this doesn't take off. DEAR GOD i hope it fails.

Half Blind. These movies, the new type of 3d, give me a pounding headache. i know 2d will be available. But wow.

Also - the movie reads like every shallow political point Cameron wanted to make for the last decade or so....no matter how much more shallow they made the plot.

[Evil Jim]

Regrettably, only one form of 3D really works for everyone, & it's the one that can't be viewed on a movie screen.

[octopimpostor]

Regrettably, only one form of 3D really works for everyone, & it's the one that can't be viewed on a movie screen.

whats that?

[JesterJ.]

i hope for my own sake this doesn't take off. DEAR GOD i hope it fails.

Half Blind. These movies, the new type of 3d, give me a pounding headache. i know 2d will be available. But wow.

...Really? I've heard that they developed this knowing that people DO get headaches from 3D, and eliminated that issue.

Also, I WILL be seeing this movie, partly because it looks pretty good, but mostly to support such a big endeavor (new technology, 3D that isn't just a gimmick, etc.)

[octopimpostor]

i can't watch 3d at all, but i had no problem at all. i actually forgot i had the glasses on most of the time

[Evil Jim]

Regrettably, only one form of 3D really works for everyone, & it's the one that can't be viewed on a movie screen.

whats that?

Your natural binocular vision.