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12-20-2009
Avatar
Before I jump into my review of Avatar I want to comment on the 3D theater and glasses. This was the first 3D movie I've seen with the new tech and glasses by Real 3D. I wasn't sure what to expect and during the trailers they showed two in 3D, Piranha 3-D and Shrek Forever After, which were mixed. The Piranha trailer looked bad and not really that 3D but Shrek really popped. For a minute I was worried that the more realistic Avatar film would be a letdown but that was not the case. Except for a little bit of a headache for the first 15 minutes or so, my eyes adjusted to the 3D glasses and the film really popped. I was suitably impressed.
Now, for the review.
As with most films, I tried to stay away from a lot of spoilers before Avatar hit theaters because I wanted to be surprised by the film. What I did know before going was that James Cameron waited over 14 years to bring this film to theaters, he needed the technology to catch up with what his vision was for the film (he even had to build his own camera in the end), and that it was grossly expensive (rumors of $300 million plus). Then there was the fanboy buzz, which had been growing to deafening levels since Comic-Con, over the CGI and effects in the film. I also knew, or thought I knew from the trailers, that the plot was not really fresh. I liked to compare it to The Fast and the Furious but you'll find a lot of people comparing it to Dances with Wolves. Six of one...
However you want to describe it, I was not wrong on that plot comparison.
Avatar is the story of Jake Sully, played by Hollywood's new golden boy Sam Worthington, a former Marine who is paralyzed. He takes over for his deceased twin brother, a scientist, on the planet Pandora where he will be an "avatar" driver. Basically he'll have his brain interfaced with a genetically engineered Na'vi, Pandora's native humanoid species, so that he can patrol and investigate the planet. Sigourney Weaver plays Dr. Grace Augustine, a scientist who has spent time with the Na'vi, teaching them English and learning their culture as part of a program to build cooperation between them and the humans who are there to mine a mineral called unobtainium.
Unobtainium, as explained by Giovanni Ribisi's Parker Selfridge, is a highly valuable mineral that is essential to Earth. Unfortunately, other than putting a price on it, little else is explained as to what unobtainium is or why Earth needs it. While the other avatar drivers are scientists, Sully is the first soldier to fill that role and it's of great interest to the military leader on Pandora, Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang. Quaritch gives Sully three months to work as an avatar driver and learn all he can about the Na'vi, with the ultimate goal being to convince the Na'vi to leave their home which happens to be above a huge deposit of unobtainium.
Here there be spoilers...
As I said on Tuesday, the plot kind of looked played out, and it is. But that doesn't mean it's terrible, it's a solid plot otherwise it wouldn't still be in rotation. Sully interacts with the local Na'vi, particularly Neytiri, voiced by Zoe Saldana, and learns that they are extremely in tune with the planet and the animals that inhabit it. This includes a biological interface that all Na'vi have that basically lets them plug into the planet and some creatures such as the direhorse, mountain banshee and Leonopteryx. As he learns more about the Na'vi, Sully comes to love and respect them and decides that what the humans are doing to the natives and the planet is wrong. Eventually he "goes native," running from the military and helping the Na'vi fight back.
Sully isn't the only human that turns, however. Grace, who has spent the most time with the Na'vi, also defects. Scientist Norm Spellman, Joel Moore, and pilot Trudy Chacon, Michelle Rodriguez, also help Sully in his quest to stop the Marines and mining company.
Setting the plot aside for a minute, I have to say that Avatar is the most beautiful film I've ever seen. The colors, the nearly seamless CGI, the 3D, the motion capture, everything came together in this film to create the most believable world possible. As flawless as special effects are becoming, (look at District 9, the LOTR films or Star Wars for examples of well-integrated FX) Avatar sets the bar to it's highest point yet. The world of Pandora is fully realized from the plants and trees to the creatures and even the bugs flying through the air which, because of the 3D nature of the film, will have you thinking they're right in the theater with you.
The film sounds great, from plenty of ambient jungle sounds to the crashes and explosions of the final battle. The language that the Na'vi use is sufficiently alien enough yet sounds sort of Native American. That's probably by design since the Na'vi refer to themselves as "The People" which is also a term that has been used to describe some Native Americans. The religion and beliefs of the Na'vi also have similarities to Native Americans, they believe that all of nature is connected and they respect all living things, including the predators. This interconnectedness is also something that Grace and the scientists have discovered, not just with the Na'vi's biological interface but also in the trees and other plants. This connection becomes important late in the film, but I'll leave you all to discover that for yourselves.
Even with the predictable plot, the story is still interesting and that's because of the characters. While the Na'vi are 10 feet tall, blue and sort of cat like, the characters are fully realized and believable and by the end you care about them. If that connection hadn't been made, the film would have been a hollow display of Hollywood technology.
The acting in Avatar, whether it was the voice acting by Zoe Saldana and CCH Pounder as Moat, Neytiri's mother, or live by Weaver, Worthington and Lang, was spot on for the tone of the movie. Some of the Marines, including Lang, were kind of over the top at times and that really causes the audience not to root for them. A better written film would have you identifying with the humans and then win you over, but Avatar, pretty much from the beginning, has you rooting for the Na'vi. Since that's the case, it's possible that the film could have been written from the point of view of a regular Na'vi rather than a human driving an avatar.
I feel like I should keep pointing out that the basic story of Avatar isn't groundbreaking for one reason; I don't think that Avatar is the best film of the year, but it's going to get that call from a lot of the geeks around the Interwebs based solely on how it looks. I'm just saying, don't be distracted by the bright shiny objects. I still believe that District 9 was the best film of the year.
While the story has been told before, the characters of Avatar are interesting, fully developed and fun. You care about the heroes (Sully, Grace, Neytiri and the other Na'vi) while disliking Selfridge and Lang. The pacing of the film is perfect, switching between learning about the natives and seeing the scheming of the human invaders. The battle at the end has a large scale with plenty of action and significant amounts of explosions. Not once during the 2 hour and 40 minute running time did I ever feel bored, not even during the few moments of exposition that filled in information about the avatars, the Na'vi or the planet of Pandora. Best of all, the emotional payoff at the end is satisfying.
Like I said, Avatar is the most beautiful film I've ever seen. You have to see this in 3D, maybe even IMAX 3D, in order to get the full impact of the vision that James Cameron poured into it. The story is ultimately satisfying because you care about the characters of Sully and Neytiri, and the fate of the Na'vi.
In the end I will give Avatar all five wheels of cheddar...I may even throw in a bottle of wine for this one.
12-15-2009
Avatar
Fanboys throughout the free world are soiling themselves over this Friday's release of James Cameron's new film, Avatar.
I am not one of them.
The buzz on this film has been building for years, really, and I'll give Cameron this; he waited till the technology was available to make the film he wanted with the visuals he wanted. He even went so far as to build his own camera using the latest tech in order to get the 3D technique he wanted.
I fear, however, that the story is going to be the weak spot of this film. Just by watching the trailers I'm guessing the plot is going to go something like this; man infiltrates the enemy to spy, man falls for enemy hot chick, man rebels against his own to side with the "enemy," people learn some type of lesson.
If that sounds like the plot to The Fast and the Furious you would be correct. Unfortunately, I don't think anybody will care. And that's a shame. This year one of the best sci-fi films, actually one of the best films period, was District 9. That excellent film cost only about $30 million, which is probably just a fraction of the advertising budget for Avatar, but it proves one thing; it doesn't take $300 million to make a good story.
For that matter, a small independent film that I haven't seen, The Hurt Locker, is getting a ton of press and a lot of awards buzz for its story. That film only cost about $11 million to make and was shot almost guerrilla-style to help pull the audience in. It gives the film weight and added impact, something that I feel a film like Avatar will be hard pressed to follow. Interestingly enough, the director, Kathryn Bigelow, is Cameron's ex-wife.
While I am looking forward to seeing Avatar on Friday, and I'm expecting to like it, I just hope that the spectacle of the film isn't the only positive part, and that if it is, people see past it. If nothing else, 2009 has proven that good stories are still to be had from Hollywood (or not, in the case of District 9) and they don't have to be backed up by groundbreaking CGI or out of control budgets.
Check back on Friday and I'll have my review for you.
12-2-2009
"Only one Ninja was harmed during the making of this movie...the rest were killed"
Killed in bloody, messy, beautiful action! Am I right?! Let's face it, just like Snakes on a Plane, there's no smoke and mirrors about what you're going to get with a movie called Ninja Assassin, you get Ninjas killing the shit out of people.
There's enough blood in this film to make Tarantino blush but, just like most of his films, the blood is so over the top it's almost funny. Even though you're watching some random guy get his head sliced in two, you're silently laughing to yourself at how fake the five gallons of blood are that are spilling on the floor.
But, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Ninja Assassin opened last Wednesday but it wasn't until last night that I had a chance to check it out. The film stars Rain as Raizo, an orphan raised from a small child by the Ozunu Clan to be a ninja. Although he excels at his training, he doesn't belong. After his first mission as a ninja, Raizo decides life as an assassin is not for him and he rebels against Sho Kosugi's Ozunu, the leader of the clan.
As a man on the run, Raizo uses his training to stop other assassins with his ultimate goal being revenge against Ozunu. With ninjas running around killing people, eventually law enforcement will get involved. That involvement comes in the form of Mika, played by Naomie Harris, and her boss Maslow, Ben Miles, in Germany's Europol offices. Mika's investigation into hits that have ties to the ancient ninja clans eventually lands her on their radar and she's targeted for elimination. Raizo intervenes and they form an alliance to help each other bring down the clan.
There's a decent plot to the film but, again, you go to this type of movie for the action and it's not lacking any of that. From the jump the film has excellent choreography and fight sequences that'll keep your eyes glued to the screen. While some scenes suffer from shaky camera action, not every fight suffers from it and you can see the amount of work the actors and stuntmen put in.
Assassin was produced by the Wachowski brothers and the final screenplay was written by J. Michael Straczynski, three guys that have a great reputation so that alone should give you some idea as to the production values on the movie. James McTeigue directed. He's the guy who brought us V for Vendetta and was first assistant director on all three Matrix films as well as Star Wars: Attack of the Clones...in other words, he's no stranger to this type of film.
Ninja Assassin clocks in at about 90 minutes and is packed with action, it doesn't lag at all even when Mika fills in her boss, and the audience, with exposition about the ninja clans and how they're still operating. The combination of CGI, practical effects and wire work make the fight sequences thrilling and fun to watch. The estimated $40 million budget for this film was well invested as production was very well put together and looked better than films that have cost twice as much.
As a side note; Hollywood, look at what this film did with $40 million and what District 9 did with $30 million and then compare them to the shitfest that was the $175 million G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. More money doesn't equal better.
Ninja Assassin is not going to win any awards this Oscar season, but it's still a damn fine action movie. It's unfortunate that it got buried over the holiday weekend by New Moon and The Blind Side because it is a lot of fun. If you're looking for a balls out action movie, check this out rather than wait for the DVD, just to let Hollywood know there's an audience for this type of film; one that actually takes a little risk rather than just being another remake or crappy sequel.
I used my shuriken to slice off three wheels of cheddar out of five for Ninja Assassin.