Movie Review: Avatar - Visual Splendor!
If you were given a chance to be reborn, with a fresh new body, a body that seems to have expunged all the deleterious effects of time, but with the same conscious you have now - a chance to start over all again, would you do anything different with your life? Isn’t that the concept of an avatar? – A brand new start with the same conscious?
Well, this isn’t the theme of the movie – these are just my philosophical musings based on the movie!
“Pandora” is an Earth-like moon of a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. It is inhabited by the “Navi” people - human-like creatures with feline features (“Feline Humanoids” is my nomenclature for them). Pandora also supports many diverse life forms, much like our beloved Earth. Pandora has rich deposits of the mineral “Unobtainium” (talk about eponyms!), which is very valuable in Earth – so a group of earthlings – comprised of scientists, businessmen, and the armed forces form a base near Pandora, with the intention of exploiting Pandora for its rich natural resources. The scientists find a way to genetically engineer Navi bodies using human DNA. A human whose DNA matches with this genetically engineered body can enter this body while his human body sleeps. So the human will get a new Navi body with the existing human conscious – a new avatar of the human mind, in a fresh new body. Scientists plan to use these avatars to learn about the Navi people and exploit them. The story revolves around the Navi body of a handicapped marine called Jake Sully, and his forays in Pandora.
This half-a-billion dollar movie does live up to its expectations. The director, James Cameron, has not cut any corners in displaying the visual spectacle of Pandora. In spite of being a totally separate celestial body from Earth, Pandora supports much of the Earth-like life forms – plants, reptiles, insects, dinosaurs, humanoids, etc. Makes me wonder if Darwinian principles of evolution and natural selection hold good in any part of the universe! The animation is excellent. James Cameron has used the latest in technology to make Pandora look “realistic” – and it does. Latest “stereoscopic” motion picture cameras were used to make the 3D images look realistic. Don’t expect any out-of-the-world 3D experience though (like snakes crawling into your clothes, etc.). The story is a bit weak, rather nothing great (ironic, coming from the director of “Titanic”), but the visual effects more than make up for the story. The director specifically chose rather unknown actors to keep the cost low – and the rookie cast has risen to the occasion.
Avatar is a movie not to be missed. The amazing special effects, the novel concept, and sheer Cameron magic will leave you content in the end.
Recommendations
For frequent movie-goers: Recommend
For moderate movie-goers: Recommend
For rare movie-goers: Recommend
Well, this isn’t the theme of the movie – these are just my philosophical musings based on the movie!
“Pandora” is an Earth-like moon of a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. It is inhabited by the “Navi” people - human-like creatures with feline features (“Feline Humanoids” is my nomenclature for them). Pandora also supports many diverse life forms, much like our beloved Earth. Pandora has rich deposits of the mineral “Unobtainium” (talk about eponyms!), which is very valuable in Earth – so a group of earthlings – comprised of scientists, businessmen, and the armed forces form a base near Pandora, with the intention of exploiting Pandora for its rich natural resources. The scientists find a way to genetically engineer Navi bodies using human DNA. A human whose DNA matches with this genetically engineered body can enter this body while his human body sleeps. So the human will get a new Navi body with the existing human conscious – a new avatar of the human mind, in a fresh new body. Scientists plan to use these avatars to learn about the Navi people and exploit them. The story revolves around the Navi body of a handicapped marine called Jake Sully, and his forays in Pandora.
This half-a-billion dollar movie does live up to its expectations. The director, James Cameron, has not cut any corners in displaying the visual spectacle of Pandora. In spite of being a totally separate celestial body from Earth, Pandora supports much of the Earth-like life forms – plants, reptiles, insects, dinosaurs, humanoids, etc. Makes me wonder if Darwinian principles of evolution and natural selection hold good in any part of the universe! The animation is excellent. James Cameron has used the latest in technology to make Pandora look “realistic” – and it does. Latest “stereoscopic” motion picture cameras were used to make the 3D images look realistic. Don’t expect any out-of-the-world 3D experience though (like snakes crawling into your clothes, etc.). The story is a bit weak, rather nothing great (ironic, coming from the director of “Titanic”), but the visual effects more than make up for the story. The director specifically chose rather unknown actors to keep the cost low – and the rookie cast has risen to the occasion.
Avatar is a movie not to be missed. The amazing special effects, the novel concept, and sheer Cameron magic will leave you content in the end.
Recommendations
For frequent movie-goers: Recommend
For moderate movie-goers: Recommend
For rare movie-goers: Recommend
posted by Girish @ 7:29 PM
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