THR and Variety review Avatar- Page 3

[BWF]

Posted: 12/20/09 at 5:53pm

I saw this film today here in the UK. Movie magic, and a high ten.

[binau]

Posted: 12/20/09 at 6:25pm

I can't agree more with the Sydney Morning Herald review of this movie!

"For all his command of the dynamics of action, Cameron has a conventional sense of story, a desire to keep us comfortable. His script is numbingly derivative. Its execution may be glorious, taking us no place we've ever been, but the story takes us every place we've ever been. The sources include the adventure stories of H. Rider Haggard and James Fenimore Cooper, particularly The Last of The Mohicans; the Disney cartoon utopias of Pocahontas and Bambi; the dystopian space worlds of the Aliens series that Cameron helped to create; the internal narrative intimacy of films such as Apocalypse Now and Dances with Wolves, where the narrator is a lonely soldier far from home. If Cameron were more prepared to challenge our expectations, Avatar might have been what he intended. Instead, it's a beautiful folly, a technical wonder that represents a failure of nerve."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/avatar/2009/12/16/1260639220329.html

I was so disappointed.

[BWF]

Posted: 12/20/09 at 8:56pm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1236769/Avatar-Its-Dances-With-Smurfs.html

Check out this review and then read some of the comments from people who have seen the film.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/21/09 at 8:41am

I saw it this weekend and thought it more than lived up to all the hyperbole. In short, I was blown away.
As far as the story goes...yes...it's Dances with Wolves in space. It's also Lawrence of Arabia, Pocahontas, etc etc. There isn't much groundbreaking story was, but I didn't find it that much more derivative than Star Wars or Harry Potter. And the characters are basically no more than caricatures. But the story worked for me.
But the movie is visually stunning. Really like nothing ever seen before on screen. The 3D was excellent and never a gimmick.
If you do go see it...I would recommend seeing it in 3D and in IMAX if you can. It's worth the extra money.

[WestEndAndy]

Posted: 12/21/09 at 4:16pm

Saw it last Thursday and it's terrific. If you don't go you will miss a cracking good story with a timely eco-message, stunning visuals and hot elves. And there's a really good arial battle. Go on, indulge the child in you.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/21/09 at 4:32pm

Mahnohla Dargis' review in The New York Times sums it up best for me.
"Few films return us to the lost world of our first cinematic experiences, to that magical moment when movies really were bigger than life (instead of iPhone size), if only because we were children. Movies rarely carry us away, few even try. They entertain and instruct and sometimes enlighten. Some attempt to overwhelm us, but their efforts are usually a matter of volume. What’s often missing is awe, something Mr. Cameron has, after an absence from Hollywood, returned to the screen with a vengeance. He hasn’t changed cinema, but with blue people and pink blooms he has confirmed its wonder. "

NY Times review

[James885]

Posted: 12/21/09 at 5:03pm

I saw it yesterday in IMAX and loved it. Absolutely stunning. Definitely see it in Imax or 3D if you can. You won't be disappointed.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/21/09 at 10:57pm

I saw 30 minutes of it on Sunday (I work in a movie theatre and it was my break) and the 3-D was absolutely seamless. No gimmicks at all. Now onto the story, the dialogue was moving the story-line but a lot of it was predictable. But then you had the piece of dialogue of when Sigourney Weaver's character was trying to explain the nature of the trees and what they meant to the Na'Vi which definitely left an impression on me.

Definitely got me to want to see the remainder of it. Updated On: 12/21/09 at 10:57 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 7:17pm

I saw it this afternoon in 3D. It's a monumental achievement as far as the production goes. Breathtaking visuals.

The story is almost entirely derivative, although up until the end, I was with it. Some corny moments, sure. But it still worked well (for the most part).

SPOILERS .......





The final ten minutes or so of the film really fell flat for me. All conflict in the plot was tied up and resolved in such an expected way. Drama and excitement were drained away. Everything "worked out." It was dull and dramatically conventional, and even in this astonishing fantasy setting, the characters, particularly the Sky People were not realistic in their behavior. The idea that they would just throw in the towel after losing this big battle and "go home" ... No way! I loved Giovanni Ribisi, but seeing his character just benignly return to Earth in that long line with the others didn't ring true for one minute. And the "soul swapping" of our hero? Okay, yeah. For all the fanboys and fangirls out there who dream of becoming their avatars, I guess this is a good ending.

Such a shame for a movie that (while conventional) engaged and entertained me thoroughly until the final sequences! Then ... a major letdown. It left me with a disappointed feeling as I left the theatre.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 10:21pm

A Big 10

Mrs R was going because I wanted to see it & she was blown way. It was fantatstic & out of sight.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/22/09 at 10:56pm

I just got back from seeing the film (not in 3D) and didn't think it lived up to the "rave" hype it has received from critics and the moviegoing public.

It was a good film. It had a story with parallel morals relevant to today. It had gorgeous animation. It had a good adventure plot. That's about it.

Some of the writing I didn't care for, dialogue and character-wise. I thought the ending was predictable.

It felt like LORD OF THE RINGS meets POCAHONTAS set in Outer Space.

I'd recommend seeing it once. Give it a go. It might surprise you. But I don't think it's the STAR WARS of today. The LORD OF THE RINGS and HARRY POTTER films are better, IMO.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 12:10am

It's definitely not Star Wars (neither in quality/story-line) and I probably would have revised the final 5-10 minutes (felt the same way Best12Bars) but if you have some time on your hands then see it. The action scenes between the Na'Vi and Sky People are breathtaking (the reinforcements was a bit unexpected).

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 12:45am

I was simply blown away! Going in, I had extremely low expectations, but boy was I wrong! The entire movie was gorgeous, stunning, and just a sight to behold. And yes, the story may have been nothing completely new, but I thought it was still great all the same. And although not as great as Star Wars, I would have to say that movie-wise, it was ten times better than the Harry Potter movies (this is coming from an extreme Potterphile). The Harry Potter movies are only as good as they are because of their source material. And although good, they fall flat as standalone movies, especially the last two. Avatar was brilliant, and I can't wait to see what else Cameron has in store with sequels!

[bethnor]

Posted: 12/23/09 at 2:06am

a visually stunning movie, but atrocious writing throughout. "we have to stop them from reaching the tree of souls!" really? isn't that an objective in some video game somewhere (which is exactly the point, methinks)? when Colonel Evil was addressing the Army of Evil i was half expecting the sinister music from lotr to play and for the Army of Evil to cheer, "the elves are tricksy!"

when you use deus ex machina to save the day, that would tend to leave some with a disappointed feeling.

worth seeing for the visuals, i'll agree, but i don't get why cameron gets a golden globe best picture nomination for this (and, i suppose, why i still don't get why titanic bowled over everyone, too).

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 11:28am

I hated the films, Star Wars, Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, so I guess I'm screwed. I have seen every 3D film since the 1950s, though. I'm torn...

[HellsBells2]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 1:48pm

Well, I for one, am loading up my bong and heading for the 3-D version!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 1:48pm

I'm always shocked by the kind of movies some critics like to hail as the second coming. This was no different.
Yes, it is one of the most visually stunning movies I've ever seen. I was particularly enthralled by the colors and the beautiful scenery. I will also say that the creatures looked a lot better than they did in the previews, and they were indeed beautiful to look at (though Grace's avatar looked terrible).
The 3-D does work perfectly well. It rarely feels gimmicky and Cameron does achieve his intent of making you feel part of the world of the movie and part of the experience. However, no one should be required to wear those awful glasses for such a long time, and I most certainly didn't appreciate the headache afterwards.
Still, the reason I get into movies is because of their story, their characters, and acting, all of which this movie pretty much failed to deliver. The story was just way too derivative for me, there was absolutely nothing new to it, and it was POCAHONTAS from beginning to end with no intent of pretending it wasn't.
Every single character is a stock figure. There was absolutely no character that rang true for me even if Cameron assembled more or less a good team of actors. Sigourney Weaver, whom I adore, played a version of her persona that we're so used to seeing. I mean, even her first line ("where's my cigarette") was a stock line for a stock character, the tough scientist that we come to love at the end of the movie (and you know from the second she's mean to Jake that she's a tough, respectable scientist, living in a man's world and that by the end of the movie she's gonna come to like Jake and the audience is gonna come to like her as a character). Of course, at least Cameron had the decency to cast one of the most likable and genuine actresses out there and Weaver is a pro and is able to more or less make her role work even if she's not able to hide the terrible script Cameron wrote for her (one stock line after another "who did you expect, numbnot?" is her first line as an avatar, ugh). The acting overall, especially at the beginning of the movie, felt incredibly weak, but then again I don't consider Cameron an actor's director (it's no coincidence that for all the Oscars it won, TITANIC failed to get a single acting Oscar).
Then there's the natives, of course. I thoroughly enjoyed Zoe Saldana's motion capture performance/voice over performance. It was wonderful even if again, her dialogue is some of the corniest. Apart from her, the other natives were also your typical stock native figures: the female priestess, the male leader, the mean warrior that's engaged to the love interest of the white guy. God, was there any creative input used in the script at all?
I also felt the movie had about two or three endings, and still the editing felt choppy in a way that you knew Cameron probably cut a good hour of the movie to make it fit the 160 min. format. The one ending the movie did have was disappointing. I felt there was little need to kill off every single one of the characters you cared about while of course allowing the two leads to survive. And of course there was absolutely no moment of mourning for any of the characters. Does Jake even pause for a minute after Grace's death before he makes his big speech to the Na'vi?
I also agree with Besty that things were too nicely resolved. Too simply fixed, though I did enjoy the fact that it was Neytiri and not Jake who kills the Stephen Lang character.
Overall it was the FX lovefest that audiences love today. I did love the visuals, they were astonishing, but I also think people are giving James Cameron a free pass. A great director, a true visionary, a good filmmaker would have been able to give us the same movie with the same wonderful visual effects, but with a story that's just as innovative and unique as the visuals are, with good acting, and great characters.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 7:39pm

Box Office Mojo said it made $75 million over the weekend topping the film's opening week performance that was hampered a bit by the Mid-Atlantic snow storm. Still that is pretty impressive and its domestic by itself is already over $200 million ($212 million to be exact). I can attest to this as it sold out my theater twice in the Sunday afternoon periods. Given most kids are out of school this week, it will definitely still be doing solid business.
Updated On: 12/27/09 at 07:39 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 7:41pm

going to see it tomorrow at the IMAX theater then afterwards travel on over to Sherlock Holmes

[binau]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 7:53pm

Avatar then Sherlock Holmes....God. Going to be a long day :P.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 8:04pm

I actually treasure the movie outings. They happen few and far between so, "Give me that tub of buttery fatness" I say :)

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 7:53am

VISUAL EFFECTS - I am in awe. It was so beautifully done and you forget they are not real. Everything was so vivid and detailed. BRILLIANT!

FINAL SCENES - blew me away. The battle was, hands down, one for the books. Amazing.

EVERYTHING PRIOR TO THE LAST ACT OF THE MOVIE - boring as hell

Updated On: 12/29/09 at 07:53 AM

[2Acting]

Posted: 12/30/09 at 2:48pm

Just seen Avatar. What a great movie! Was definitely worth spending so much time watching it.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/31/09 at 12:02pm

It is definitely a mash up of "Fern Gully", "Pocahontas" and "Dances with Wolves."

Ha, that's exactly what I said! I had fun imagining the evil military guy (I forget the character's name) singing "Mine! Mine! Mine!" and "Savages, Savages" during the first several scenes before I really got sucked into the movie.

But honestly... I thought it was jaw-droppingly awesome. Whether it's 'good' or 'bad' is irrelevant-- it was going for awe-inspiring, and it definitely succeeded. I got so emotionally invested in that movie, and I have no idea why, maybe because the visuals are so perfect that you almost stop noticing them after awhile.

I wasn't thinking 'ooh, pretty 3D, nice special effects' I felt like I was there in that world with Jake. The plot was thin and the characters were flat, but what Jake was experiencing felt real to me. Obviously they didn't pick the best actor to play Jake (I could hear his Australian accent creeping through the whole time) but I can't think of anyone else who I would totally believe was going through everything he did.

[HellsBells2]

Posted: 12/31/09 at 9:03pm

Just saw it in 3-D IMAX.......I was blown away. I agree the story was a little drawn out, but the visual effects were sooo awesome! They showed the preview for Alice in Wonderland - I have been chomping at the bit for this movie anyway, but now I MUST see it in 3-D IMAX also.