I posted this in the Avatar thread, but I wanted to re-post here just because this is the "official" FFA movie thread.
Avatar
Wow.
Amazing movie. The short story is my friend from Industrial Light and Magic invited me to a private screening at Lucas Ranch. The theater was beautiful, the sound was incredible, and I admit is was cool watching the movie alongside the people that contributed to some of the special effects.
But the movie...just incredible. My first thought after seeing this movie was of George Lucas. Because I don't want to know what Lucas SAYS about this movie. I want to know what he THINKS. How can Lucas watch this movie without envy? In Avatar, James Cameron takes all the promise of the last three Star Wars movies and even some of the same technology and gives us a far better movie than Lucas is capable of creating. There's no doubt that Lucas has a brilliant creative mind. But Lucas simply cannot write a movie or competently direct actors to produce a film this good.
In some ways, Avatar achieves the same effect that WALL•E did so well: Avatar has long stretches that are pure CGI, but the execution is so good you get lost in a story that in 100% simulated. I think that's a special feat. I have long complained that CGI is woefully inadequate in that it takes you right out of the story instantly. But in Avatar, Cameron and the effects groups have succeeded in creating a world where you sometimes forget it's all fake.
The movie has obvious parallels to the current war in the middle east. And the Native American metaphor is also thinly veiled. Avatar is a bit like Inglourious Basterds in that it's almost a fantasy wish-fulfillment about the plight of the Native Americans. Some will dismiss Cameron's politics here as simplistic or even anti-American.
I think Avatar was fantastic.
Thinly veiled? They hit the audience over the head with early and often, right down to Wes Studi as the voice of the native chief.Visually this movie is everything you say and much more but artistically it is pretty much a one dimensional remake of Dances With Wolves on an alien planet. At least Costner's characters had layers and depth, Cameron's are about as one dimensional as they get (irredeemably evil military commander, 100% money driven corporate representative, completely benevolent indigenous species and a main character who is about as conflicted in his allegiance as a fat person choosing between a Twinkie and another Twinkie.
Visually this is, without question, the most stunning movie I have ever seen, everything else is as formulaic as it gets.
very, very

... as in, I agree with everything 100%.subtlety not exactly Cameron's forte. if the movie had
any of it, I think it had enough of a story to have made this thing transcendent instead of just a fun watch. but it actively frustrated me while I watched as each point of possible plot-turn went with the hammer instead of the wiggle. but as I said, still thought it was fun to watch and have no regrets about shelling out $16(!?) per to see it.
I really wish the story had turned like this:
Sorry- my spoiler isn't working... but I'm not really giving anything away here.
drop the corporate suit character and the "unobtainium"

... pointless. have the story be about Weaver's biological research- she's trying to find something to help cure some disease or whatnot on earth. the work she does may lead to a cure, but will irrevocably damage/kill pandora. not brilliant, and doesn't even change the overall structure of the film much since her bio-pharm bosses will fill in as Ribisi's character, but at least there's some point of conflict and moral uncertainty in where it goes from there.