Avatar

[meddow]

Just got in from seeing Avatar and it is very, very good. The trailer does not do it justice. It is much, much better than the trailer. Oh, and it was the first movie I've seen in 3D, which was cool.

Okay, the plot is ridiculously predictable and has been done a million times before, and there are no shades of grey. But it does it in a manner that’s not too heavy handed, the good characters are likable, the bad guys detestable, and the female characters have a sense of humour (which I have decided is my go-to test of whether or not the writers have bothered to put any effort into writing the female characters) and the dialogue isn’t clunky. It’s a big budget Hollywood movie in which the good guys fight the bad guys - but it does it so well.

But the special effects and the world that they’ve created is amazing. It’s not quite photo realism, but at the same time, you don’t really notice the CGI at all. And it’s absolutely beautiful. I can’t stress that enough. The world of this movie fantastic.

Oh and there’s a well done romance at the heart of it, which I think I shall point out because it used to be that the big blockbusters had major romances running through them. But it’s rather rare these days for movie to bother with a romance. Usually they’re just an afterthought. (I have this theory that Casablanca would not be made today).

My recommendation is: Find the biggest screen you can and watch it in 3D.

Comments

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

Because I am a giant hippie who stops being able to SEEEEEE in shades of gray when dealing with IMPERIALIST ASSHOLES, I don't think I would mind that lack, especially if it isn't too heavy-handed. That is the one thing that seems intriguing to me from the commercials, even though I end up going "CGI NATIVES? Oh nevermind, I'm just going to go rewatch Lawrence of Arabia or cry over the history of People's Park again." My friend wants to watch the movie because, as she says, "BLUE KITTIES!"

"the female characters have a sense of humour (which I have decided is my go-to test of whether or not the writers have bothered to put any effort into writing the female characters)"

I think that's generally a test of whether writing is worth a damn at all. I mean, I've read plenty of overall deathly serious things, but even there it is in fact possible to slip in something wry without compromising the integrity. It just occurs naturally, you know.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, imperialism (particularly in a fictional context rather than a historic one) is one of those subjects where is isn't that much grey to begin with. It's also one of those subjects where I'm quite happy to not go looking for grey and just revel in disliking the bad guys.

That is a good point about humour. My female character thing is just me railing against the prevalence of the idea at the moment that all women are humourless harpies, and I'm staring to wonder if some screen writers have ever actually met a woman. Judd Apatow comedies seems to be among the worst offenders.

But yeah, humour does seem to occur naturally in life even during bad times, and the good writing both notices and acknowledge it.