Part Sci-Fi, part fantasy, part a crusade against greed and rampant destruction of the environment; Avatar is a visual feast. It is a stunning blend of CGI and live action; and the CGI is better than any other movie I have seen before; in terms of facial animation, movement and even the explosions. I watched it a 3D cinema, and while the 3D imagery was immersive; I think it actually detracted from the movie.
The storyline of the movie was however rather thin and predictable. This was a standard storyline from other movies that explored colonialism. It is a mix of "modern" people meeting a new race, not understanding them, infiltrating their ranks, falling in love, gaining acceptance, betrayal as the "modern" people try to commit genocide; and off course requiring the adopted hero to save the day. And even the alien world - while fantasticaly created in amazing level of detail; is not really that much different from Earth - the Na'vi (the intelligent alien race) has similar cultural traits to most aboriginal cultures in the world; the animals are a lot like existing or past animals on Earth (the triceratops look alikes etc).
But it does push the boundaries of movie making; and champions environmentalism and the impact of pursuing large civil projects over understanding the environmental impacts. It is a movie worth watching simply because of its scale and visual beauty.
No comments:
Post a Comment