Avatar (Brodie)

I saw it in 3D.  Loved it.  The last time I remember seeing a 3D movie, I was in high school at EPCOT Center.  This was the perfect movie to welcome me back.  The main character, Marine Jake Sully is stationed on a new planet, Pandora… in a new body, an avatar… interacting with (and as) a new people, the Na’vi. 

The 3D helped me feel as though I was going through the experience with him, creating a level of association and sympathy greater than any I’ve experienced before.  The 3D was spectacular.  My friend and I were constantly in awe.  When someone was underwater struggling for air, I found I craned my neck, straining to break the surface.  (Kinda like jerking Nintendo controls to make Mario jump.)

With James’ Cameron’s resume of Aliens, Abyss, Terminator 1 and 2, and Titanic, I was confident I was in good hands; and he didn’t let me down.  The hard-core Latina, the mechanical-suit loaders, and Sigourney Weaver were fun reminders of Aliens; the computer-generated graphics were as seamless as T2; the world and its aliens were as wondrous as those of Abyss; and the whole experience felt more real than Titanic.  Once again, Cameron has set new standards for the industry.

The story was clichéd and oversimplified, creating somewhat allegorical, rather than dynamic characters, but who cares?  The colors, action, movements, sights, sounds… I swear, at one point, I thought I was sensing textures through my hands.  When the movie ended, my friend and I agreed that removing the glasses and walking out of the theater was a return to a gray and flat world.  We wanted to go back to Pandora even if just to observe the normal day to day lives of the Na’vi because there, nothing seemed mundane. 

Avatar was an experience that shouldn’t be missed and won’t be regretted.