For those of you who don't remember any previous experience of watching a 3D movie, or only have a very faint memory (... what was the name of the movie... er... I think it was an animation...no.... .): Be Ready for a jaw dropping Visual EXTRAVAGANZA! IT IS W*O*W.... And those of you who are the “3D & IMAX everyday” group: you tell me, ‘cause I am not one of you.
Initial few minutes you are aware of the 3D-ism of what you are seeing. Then you actually get used to it, like it becomes the only way it should be. Then you start wanting the screen to extend all around you without boundaries and quickly realize why they invented IMAX.
Back to the movie: If you have great expectations of a splendid storyline with all the romance and comedy and all the emotions, backed with strong technical support, (akin to Titanic and True Lies), James Cameron is a big disappointment here. This definitely spares a lot of discussions and blogs which put up different interpretations and form cults over what the plot actually means and what is in-store for it in the sequels (like the way Matrix-1 did). In this magnum opus of JC, you should just try to soak-up the effects and that is all. The world, which is supposed to be some moon of some planet of some star, breaks all notions of distant worlds, extraterrestrial life and aliens. The daylight shots of this world depict a whole new tropical-rain forest, with completely baffling flora and fauna. And if you find this impressive, wait for the nightfall, it’s simply mind-boggling. Individually, there is nothing dramatically new about the main subjects, living or no living. The big beasts, you would swear you have seen them in the Jurassic Park series before. The machines are also a déjà-vu (manned robots, oversized tanks, etc…). The USB like hair (connect to anything, anytime) might be the only new phenomenon, concept-wise. But stringing off all these together, breath-taking sequences of flying, the concept of Human race being the villains, the protagonist betraying the race (while you actually will him to do exactly that), these are what make the movie stand apart.
I look forward to JC’s sequels and Avatar is no exception. No prizes for guessing the reason to be T2 for this optimism.
