Avatar

Finally got around to seeing this (and yes, I saw it in 3D). I was initially keen to try it (Empire has been hyping all year), but when the trailer actually hit I was less than impressed. But I dutifully went to see it anyway, and I could totally take it or leave it. First of all - insanely long. I think a tighter story line would have served Cameron's ideas much better. And wow there are a lot of ideas. Definitely the best part was seeing the complexity of the culture. That level of detail was very rewarding. But the main theme (culture with intense connection to nature gets consistently screwed over by capitalist pigs wearing military uniforms, until nature delivers an arse kicking) is very much an idea of the moment, and nothing particularly new.

So what did I like? First of all, the idea of an Avatar. That throws up lots of wonderful ideas about making yourself part of a culture. Is it cheating to wear that blatant a mask? The scientists are just "demons, an empty shell" - what makes them truly part of the people? I know we get our answer at the end, but I still felt a little like it was false pretences. Very nifty conceit though.

The second thing I liked was very small, but it was a nice touch. The further Sully gets involved with the people, the more his human appearance changes. His hair gets longer, he gets thinner. The body starts to reflect the mind. I was hoping that his Avatar would just suddenly take over, making it a true mental leap, but the connection to the planet makes sense.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't like the 3D effect. Mostly because it gave me a headache, but also because I found it quite jarring. One of my favourite things about seeing movies in a cinema is that I get completely consumed. The 3D "experience" kept jolting me out of the story, and I didn't appreciate it.

So. You can stone me now if you want. I don't mind.