Avatar (2009)
Tim (5 stars) - I will say right at the beginning that I didn't really have high expectations for this movie. The previews made it look weird and I thought the blue people were going to be super strange and annoying. But I had been hearing so many great reviews of this movie that Liz and I decided that we should see it. And if we were going to see it we definitely wanted to see it in 3D. There was only one place near us showing the movie in 3D, the beautiful Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield, Mass. First of all, the movie started and I immediately noticed that the 3D experience was going to be amazing. I had seen some 3D imax documentary-type movies but I had never experienced a feature film in a quality 3D and it was like nothing else I had ever seen before. It was so cool to see the characters literally popping off the screen. On the whole, I was thoroughly entertained by the storyline and just the sheer grand-ness of the movie. Liz pointed out to me that there were some really cheesy one-liners, which when I thought back on agreed that there were, but it definitely didn't distract me at the time.
Liz (4 1/2 stars) When this movie first came out, I didn't think I'd have any interest in seeing it. Slowly, I kept hearing more and more people talking about it, and more and more people raving about it. I figured I needed to see what all the hype was for myself, so we bundled up and headed to the Beacon Theater in Pittsfield. We decided to go to the Beacon because it was the only local theater that had it in 3D and we figured we might as well see it the way it was meant to be seen. First of all, we had never been to the Beacon, so that was a new experience too. It was very nice and the staff was very friendly. The theater was clean and comfortable. I would definitely go there again. As we walked in, we were handed our 3D glasses and basically told to not even try to take them home with us. This was said in a nice way, but let me tell you, they were serious about those glasses. If you wanted to go into the bathroom, you had to turn your glasses over to the usher until you came back. Now this might seem a little extreme, but these were not your typical 3D glasses with the red and blue plastic. These glasses were fancy and almost felt like sunglasses when you put them on. They were made out of hard plastic and had an anti-theft device installed in them. Serious stuff.
I did not realize that the whole movie was in 3D- not just the parts in the other world, not just occasional things jumping out at you- EVERYTHING the whole way through. I have to say, it was pretty amazing during the first few minutes when you are first getting used to it. It was truly unlike anything I've ever seen. The scenes that took place in the forest of Pandora were beautiful and the night scenes were gorgeous. It's hard to explain, it's just something you have to see. I'm definitely glad we saw it in 3D. I did not get a headache like I was worried about, but the almost 3 hour run time of constant 3D action did make my eyes feel tired. I'm still tired as I sit here writing this the next day!
This review is a little bit more about the experience than it is about the movie. The movie and the story were epic to say the least. Some of the writing wasn't the best, but James Cameron definitely fully created a whole other world and society that the audience was transported into. The messages of equality, racism and environmentalism might have been a little heavy handed, but that worked for Avatar. Being an actor in this movie and seeing yourself as an Avatar or a Na'vi must have been so weird, because you can really see the person in the creature. It's not like animation where you are just voicing something. Having just seen the same actress (Zoe Saldana) in Star Trek, I could really see her in her part, even though we never see her human form in Avatar. It must have been a completely surreal experience. Not everyone is going to love this movie, but I think everyone could at least be remotely interested in the story. It is absolutely innovative and the experience of watching it is not like any other movie viewing experience I've had.
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