Turns out that Hollywood didn’t completely disappoint me this year. Avatar was the bright spot for me among 2009’s domestic releases.
The story is pure cliché, and nothing comes as a surprise. The movie was hyped to a level that no movie could possibly reach, including this one. The dialog is distractingly bad in spots, causing a couple of moments that pull you out of the story (Really Cameron? Is “Unobtainium” the best name you could come up with for a mineral that’s difficult to obtain?)
You know what?
I
Don’t
Care
No doubt, there are aspects of the movie that could have been done better, but hold that thought and look at the movie as just pure entertainment and it is fantastic. For not having the best story or dialog, I think the acting was actually pretty good, and of course the visuals stole the show. The movie does as good a job as any of transporting you to a different place for a few hours. This is escapism at it’s finest.
One final thought: Don’t wait for this movie to hit DVD. See it in a theater that shows it in 3D. It’s worth the extra cost (tickets were $4 more than the regular price at my local theater) and I’d say it’s even worth a bit of a drive if there’s no 3D theater near you. I’m sure it’s beautiful and colorful on any screen, but seeing it in 3D moved it beyond the status of “just another movie” to me. This is one of the very few times in my life that I’ve witnessed a movie that in some way changed my concept of what a movie could be.
Cheers