Filmociraptor

The big question on everyone's mind on Thursday night was whether or not James Cameron's Avatar would live up to the other-worldly expectations set forth by early footage shown at Comic-Con in July. Would it be as mind-blowingly intense as the hype claimed? Is it going to revolutionize CG? Will it actually change the way we watch movies? Yes. Yes. And, well, not really.

The foundation for Avatar's story lines all seem pretty familiar, even in the previous work of James Cameron himself. Story line one has a seemingly evil corporation after a wealth of the most poorly named metal in the history or the universe (seriously, guys? "Unobtainium"?!); Story line two has our hero falling in love with an unsuspecting native. Stirred in are friendships and relationships made through earned respect just like in any other movie. But you know what? It's familiar because it works and it works just as well if not better here. 

The world of Pandora is a vast and beautiful landscape full of blue hippies and really pissed of creatures. When it's discovered that Pandora is rich with the aforementioned metal, the US does what it does any time there's an abundant resource anywhere, they send countless military troops into action to force whatever indigenous life is there out of their homeland so we can get rich off what they mine. The Na'vi don't like that, and neither does Jake Sully, who comes on board to steer his dead twins avatar, a full size, remotely controlled Na'vi. Jake eventually falls in love with Neytiri, a beautiful huntress, and begins fighting back against the army with the help of some rogue scientists.

But that's not the real reason you're going to see Avatar, you're going to see it because it's supposedly going to revolutionize motion capture, CGI, and film making as we know it. And honestly, it pretty much does all of that. It's certainly not going to change the fact that watching a movie involves nothing more than sitting your butt in a chair for two plus hours (regardless of how well the 3D is utilized), but behind the scenes is a whole different story.

Avatar proves one thing, James Cameron knows how to direct a God damn action movie. I mean, the dude's first legit movie was Terminator for God's sake. How do you get more action? Well, Cameron found a way many times over, and now, ten years after his last cinematic epic, Titanic, he proves to us that he's still got it. The film is chock full of stunning action sequences that you'd never guess are 100% CG. When Jake and Neytiri take their first flight on the banshee's you'd bet money that Cameron flew his crew to Pandora and pointed cameras at real life creatures. And the final battle sequence redefines the term epic.

The new technology used to capture the performances of the actors does exactly that. Watching the Na'vi on screen feels like watching actors just as you would any other movie. Anyone who says "they just look like CG" is a liar and you should discredit them and cause harm to their families. They are wrong. The performances feel as natural as they would if they were shot on location. Zoe Saldana really does play Ney'tiri, not a pile of animators stuck in a stuffy room with 40 computers and a render farm. The way they were able to transfer every bit of the actor's performance to the rendered Na'vi is stunning and realistic to a degree that won't be surpassed for quite some time.

I don't really have enough great things to say about Avatar beyond the straight up fact that it's totally fucking awesome and will revolutionize the way humanoid species are filmed in the future. I highly recommend seeing this in IMAX 3D (real IMAX, not bullshit IMAX) so you can totally immerse yourself in the beauty that is Pandora. Solid story albeit one you've heard before, great action, stunning effects.

5 stars