Better late than never

So I went to see AVATAR and I really felt like I had to make a few comments, firstly being that I loved the film. A true return to top form for Mr. Cameron who let it slide somewhat with Titanic but nonetheless really brought his 'A' game for this film. The second comment probably won't go down too well with most, but the plot was very thin on the ground. Whilst the movie made some insanely huge steps forward in relation to film making, the storytelling was relatively straightforward. I'm not saying that the film suffered for this in any way. It was excellent and a joy to experience in 3d, even with two fuckwits persistently chatting throughout right in front of me. My enjoyment of the film was not in any way demeaned by the plot.

The message of the film was relatively simple, corporate America takes on Nature and loses, but in an extremely cool way - It really was pretty spectacular towards the end of the film. The film tended to stick to a relatively standard monomythical structure throughout and whilst it told the story in a very new and unique way, I couldn't help feel that the technology behind the camera was dictating an awful lot of what was going on in front of the camera. Perhaps teetering on the edge of overwhelming it, but not quite doing so which makes it pretty hard to not love this film.

At the beginning of the story, conversations between characters that would have been conducted in offices and still had the same dramatic impact were immediately moved to other locations for want of a FX shot. In parts it almost came accros as ignore the story here, but check out what we can do with our new toys. Don't get me wrong here, i'm not saying I didn't buy in, I did and in a huge way. In retrospect there could have been a monumental evolutionary leap forward in film making here that would have truly stamped this production into the minds of generations going forward a hundred years or so, much like a modern Citizen Kane or whatever.

I'm not so sure that in our mass consumer mind set that AVATAR is going to have the longevity of a Star Wars or the endearing nature of a Lord of The Rings. Not to say that this film wasn't good, or that it didn't do what it said it was going to do. It all played the same sort of tune that Jurassic Park and Independence Day did to me. Look at what we can do, leave your brain at home and enjoy the wonderment of special effects.

**But**

They were pretty damned amazing and the story did enough for me, to propel one into the sparse mythology that was provided and buy in wholesale to the notion that something pretty phenomenal was being played out in front of me.

It looked good, the message was conveyed and it did what it said it was going to do - and thank god it wasn't a bloody 80's remake or reboot. It was original and it was beautiful. Fine it wasn't the Hollywood redeemer film that I wanted it to be, but it was a bloody good nod in the right in the right direction and I can't wait for more.

All I'll say in my humble opinion is that the technical process was nailed, combine that with an excellent script and he really will have revolutionised filmaking.

Still, definitely one of the best event movies of recent history.

Two Thumbs up from me.