My OperaAvatar Blu-Ray Reviews
Saturday, June 5, 2010 4:30:34 PM
Cameron's sci-fi epic takes us to the distant future - where technology has allowed mankind to travel the stars. Enter Jake Sullivan (Sam Worrington), a paraplegic and disgruntled ex-Marine who travels the long journey to Pandora - an exotic forest moon - where a mining operation for a precious mineral is halted by armed conflicts with Pandora's native inhabitants, the Nav'i. Despite being a more primitive civilization (similar to the Native Americans in the colonial era), the Nav'i have proved to be a handful even for the military backing. One of the villages of the Nav'i resting atop of the richest mineral deposit on the moon, the mining company CEO is desperate to have the Nav'i relocated - with force if necessary. Offering an alternative solution to violence, a science team have prepared "avatars" - living but mentally vacant vessels constructed from both human and Nav'i DNA and operated via a neural uplink - to make peace with the natives. Since the separate avatars can only operated by pilots that match their human DNA, Jake is called to step in for his late brother that was killed earlier before the events of the film, much to the dismay of the botanist and lead researcher behind the Avatar Project, Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver). Jake surprisingly gets adjusted to his avatar with little effort, and finds joy in being back on his feet - both figuratively and literally.
But Jake soon realizes that strolling through Pandora is no walk in the woods. Pandora's flora and fauna is dangerous as it is beautiful, and Jake gets a taste when a routine research mission gets him being pursued by man-eating, panther-like creature - separating him from the team. He is saved by Ney'tiri (Zoe Saldana), a warrior of the Nav'i people, who shares the same hatred for the humans as her own kind but shows some unusual compassion to the "dreamwalker". Convincing her tribe that he means no harm, Jake slowly learns from the Nav'i - tutored by reluctant Ney'tiri. Between connected to his avatar and back at base, Jake grows an appreciation for the Nav'i way of life. But his relationship between the Nav'i and his own race is threatened when a trigger-happy colonel (Stephen Lang) is more than eager to raise hell with the Nav'i, forcing Jake to choose his loyalties.
Having not been too impressed with 3D technology in movies in the past, and not seeing a 3D presentation since the 'Honey I Shrunk the Audience' attraction in Disneyland years ago, I was hesitant about James Cameron's ambition to bring 3D to a whole new record - spending a great deal of the film's budget to develop the 3D cameras specifically engineered to for this film. Coming into the theater as a critic, I left the theater amazed. The 3D version of 'Avatar' is absolutely incredible, if not ground-breaking. Never before have I felt so much the feeling of visual immersion in film, and as Cameron promised, it does take the technology in a bright new direction. If this actually pans out, I would love to see more movies done in 3D this way, and I would have even more reason to visit the theaters more often.
But Jake soon realizes that strolling through Pandora is no walk in the woods. Pandora's flora and fauna is dangerous as it is beautiful, and Jake gets a taste when a routine research mission gets him being pursued by man-eating, panther-like creature - separating him from the team. He is saved by Ney'tiri (Zoe Saldana), a warrior of the Nav'i people, who shares the same hatred for the humans as her own kind but shows some unusual compassion to the "dreamwalker". Convincing her tribe that he means no harm, Jake slowly learns from the Nav'i - tutored by reluctant Ney'tiri. Between connected to his avatar and back at base, Jake grows an appreciation for the Nav'i way of life. But his relationship between the Nav'i and his own race is threatened when a trigger-happy colonel (Stephen Lang) is more than eager to raise hell with the Nav'i, forcing Jake to choose his loyalties.
Having not been too impressed with 3D technology in movies in the past, and not seeing a 3D presentation since the 'Honey I Shrunk the Audience' attraction in Disneyland years ago, I was hesitant about James Cameron's ambition to bring 3D to a whole new record - spending a great deal of the film's budget to develop the 3D cameras specifically engineered to for this film. Coming into the theater as a critic, I left the theater amazed. The 3D version of 'Avatar' is absolutely incredible, if not ground-breaking. Never before have I felt so much the feeling of visual immersion in film, and as Cameron promised, it does take the technology in a bright new direction. If this actually pans out, I would love to see more movies done in 3D this way, and I would have even more reason to visit the theaters more often.