AVATAR (2009)
"Avatar" is much like an Ohio State football game. For fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds, all you get is running up the middle and punts.
But then, at the last second, Tressel sends in his favorite unit, the field goal team, to boot the game-winning field goal through the uprights. With another notch in the win column, everyone goes home happy, blissfully neglecting the frustration of the first 3,599 seconds of the match.
"Avatar," a 160 minute epic, is much the same, building up and building up until a rousing and epic action finale that is sure to boost your testosterone levels up to "Jersey Shore" levels of unfathomable. That's not to say "Avatar" is perfect, as it is very much not so, suffering from an almost infinite level of exposition, as well as an overly simplistic story and the aesthetic of a video game, but in the end, "Avatar" is a rewarding, true-blue example of cinematic escapism that sends audiences off right.
The CGI ain't perfect - it's still noticeable and it's used in abundance - but it's used almost as well as any film that's used in it such force before it. On a technical level, "Avatar" is solid, though I'd be cautious to call it groundbreaking as the technical accomplishments of "Avatar" leave me wary of the future of filmmaking. But I suppose that's all a matter of preference, is it not? After all, the advances in computer graphics made the pros of "Avatar" possible.
Still though, despite its lengthy buildup, "Avatar" is a fine piece of escapism, one that takes us to other worlds and immerses us in their environment. Literally. And while the parallels to other films might instill an unwanted sense of deja vu ("'Dances with Wolves' in Space" is a common and accurate descriptor), "Avatar" serves up enough entertainment value to make the dent in your wallet entirely forgettable.
But then, at the last second, Tressel sends in his favorite unit, the field goal team, to boot the game-winning field goal through the uprights. With another notch in the win column, everyone goes home happy, blissfully neglecting the frustration of the first 3,599 seconds of the match.
"Avatar," a 160 minute epic, is much the same, building up and building up until a rousing and epic action finale that is sure to boost your testosterone levels up to "Jersey Shore" levels of unfathomable. That's not to say "Avatar" is perfect, as it is very much not so, suffering from an almost infinite level of exposition, as well as an overly simplistic story and the aesthetic of a video game, but in the end, "Avatar" is a rewarding, true-blue example of cinematic escapism that sends audiences off right.
The CGI ain't perfect - it's still noticeable and it's used in abundance - but it's used almost as well as any film that's used in it such force before it. On a technical level, "Avatar" is solid, though I'd be cautious to call it groundbreaking as the technical accomplishments of "Avatar" leave me wary of the future of filmmaking. But I suppose that's all a matter of preference, is it not? After all, the advances in computer graphics made the pros of "Avatar" possible.
Still though, despite its lengthy buildup, "Avatar" is a fine piece of escapism, one that takes us to other worlds and immerses us in their environment. Literally. And while the parallels to other films might instill an unwanted sense of deja vu ("'Dances with Wolves' in Space" is a common and accurate descriptor), "Avatar" serves up enough entertainment value to make the dent in your wallet entirely forgettable.
B
The escapism is exactly what I was hoping for and it delivered big time! Not many movies can do that for me.
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