There are some movies that entertain us, there are some movies that move us emotionally, and then there are those rare occasions where a movie does both of those things and changes the way we view films and at times even life itself. Avatar is one of those movies. Honestly when i first saw the previews I admitted that it was a beautiful looking film but it didn't draw me in. I sit here right now telling you that I'm SO glad that I didn't let that stop me from seeing it. Avatar is the best movie I've seen all year (and that's saying something) and I'll go on a limb and say that it'll go down in history as one of the greatest movies ever made. Let me start off by saying that this movie is fucking GORGEOUS. The colors were vibrant and rich and the CGI was so clean that you almost forget that the alien race in the film aren't actors themselves. It apparantly took James Cameron 4 years to complete this film and I can see why. There aren't enough words for me to describe how visually intoxicating the movie was. The film's story was also really well done. There were no plot holes, slow moments or questions left unanswered, everything was very complete. Usually during a 3 hour long movie, no matter how great it is, my mind begins to wander. But this is the first time that I've been engrossed for the entire 3 hours without thinking of anything else. The overlaying message (Preserving the Planet) in the movie has been touched on before in other films in different ways, but unlike other films the message isn't thrown in your face. One of my biggest worries once i saw the trailer is that it was just going to be a giant PSA about the rain forest, but the story grabs you so well that you'll end up leaving the theater wanting to hug a tree lol. Another great thing about the film were the performances from the actors. I'd seen Sam Worthington in other films (most notably Terminator Salvation) but it wasn't until now that I saw him as truly amazing. He was very strong in this and did a great job at showing his character's growth from being just a former soldier to the a leader. Other human roles that really stuck with me were Stephen Lang, who served as the movie's antagonist, and frequent collaborator with James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver. To me though the strongest performances in the movie were from the people of Pandora. The story does such a great job developing them and drawing you into their world that you end up feeling like you know them and wanting them to succeed. I honestly teared up at a few parts and it's hard to make me do that. For the Na'vi (the alien race), James Cameron seemed to have drawn inspiration from Native American and Aztec culture, because the way they are represented in the film reminds me of one of those tribes. They were a beautiful species. Zoe Saldana blew me away in this movie and I think this is the best performance she's had to date. Because she isn't a human you only see her as a Na'vi and she plays the part SO well. Everything from speaking the alien language and the accent to her sometimes animalistic instincts (hissing, growling, etc) was completely believable. Without giving to much away her passion in the role is also something to see. She had me hooked the entire film. The scale of this movie is so ridiculous that I found myself lost in this new world that was presented to me and I didn't want to be found. There is so much more that I want to say about the film but I'll end up taking up an entire page and spoiling the entire movie for those of you who still would like to see it. This movie is the perfect way to end a year of some great cinema and venture into a new year of very promising new films. It's things like this the constantly remind me why I want to be apart of this business more than anything. I want to thank James Cameron and everyone else involved for bringing me this amazing piece of cinema. Till next time ladies n gents, Rock on from Krypton
Dueces Up!
-Vision.Air.y-
