Avatar 3D

I haven't been following all the "Avatar" hype, but after seeing many of my friends' rave reviews of it, I took the little lady to see the 3D version yesterday morning.



This was our first experience seeing a regular, non-documentary film in 3D. And really, if you're considering seeing this movie, then it's probably worth the few extra bucks (and the trouble, if there's no 3D-equipped theater near you) to see it in 3D.

Why, you ask? It's simple: "Avatar" is more about the visuals than it is about the story. The story has been done before--in books, in film, in real life. If you've seen "Dances With Wolves", you're familiar with the story line. The white man comes and takes from an oppressed group of people. Oppressed group of people fights back, usually with mixed results. Anyway, back to my point about the visuals. In short, they're stunning. There is no question in my mind that "Avatar" will be regarded for years to come as one of the most groundbreaking movies ever. No one has ever mixed real characters with CGI like James Cameron has here. And, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever created an entire alien world like Cameron has here, either. If you care about cinematography, special effects and/or science fiction even a little bit, prepare to have your mind blown.

I wish the story had been better. Over $200 million is a lot to spend to make a movie with a storyline that has been done many times before, especially if you're going to do it without developing many of the key characters. This was my biggest issue with the film.

I'd rate "Avatar" a solid "B". It's well worth your time, but it's definitely not movie of the year material.