Dances With Thundercats

Sometimes, no matter how much you try to avoid something, you end up doing it anyway. I bring this up because I finally gave in and saw Avatar this afternoon. I just had to see what all the fuss was about. And while I could have just downloaded it or waited for the DVD, I had to see it theatrically and in 3D.

I haven't really had much interest at all in Avatar over the last two months or so. I actually developed the opposite of interest, where I was hoping people would just shut up about it already. But you know what? I didn't not like it.

I actually didn't think it was so bad at all. It almost gets too preachy at times, like James Cameron was going out of his way to make white people feel guilty for having mistreated Native Americans hundreds of years ago. But after a while, I ended up getting so emotionally invested in the movie that I didn't really realize I was being preached to until the credits were rolling.

The biggest problem with Avatar, though, is that it's not a very memorable movie. I don't remember the names of any character outside of the ones played by Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver, and I really have to sit down and think to remember any major scenes. As far as the story goes, it's nothing that hasn't really been done before. But like I said, it's done in such a way that I was actually invested in it, so they were obviously doing something right.

It helps a lot that the movie was very, very pretty. Avatar is definitely one of the most visually stunning movies I've veer seen. It's what TV Tropes would call "scenery porn." It's so beautiful that I'll probably end up buying the Blu-ray release of the movie, just to give my HDTV a workout. (Though I'm surprised that Cameron didn't go all the way and have the humans be CGI creations too. I mean, everything else is CGI, so why not even the people?)

So what did I think of the movie in a nutshell? It was okay. I knew going in that it would basically be Cameron showing off his new CGI toys, so I didn't get my hopes up. And because of that, the movie was a pleasant surprise. Is it worthy of all the Golden Globes of the Oscar nominations? I don't really think so. But I liked it, and that's really all I can ask for sometimes. Well, that and not making a movie three hours long when you could have done it in two. Anyway, Avatar gets three and a half stars and a thumbs up.

And now to wait until The Wolfman comes out tomorrow...