Just came back from this
Negatives
- As been said over and over again, it retreads on the whole "Outsider enters indigenous tribe, becomes one of them"
- The movie is fucking long but is lengthened by the fact that you're sitting here viewing this formulaic scenario unfold. You end up just wanting shit to move along.
- God this movie was hokey at times. I rolled my eyes at some of the "Oh! Mother Earth!" moments.
- There is no "grey" in this movie. Humans bad, native species good.
- The 3D was good and bad, the bad is that
1) It really darkens the screen, to the point where the imagery loses its "pop"
2) You sort of lose the ability to discern fine detail. This is something I was really hit with in this movie, so lush and full of life, you wanted to study the screen. The 3D sort of smudges the image a bit (relative to non 3D movies) and can be disconcerting at times.
3) There were moments where the Depth of Field and the 3D clash against each other and it ends up straining your eyes more than usual. Its almost as if your eyes are being forcefully dragged to whatever's in focus and bugs your eyes out.
- Sigourney Weaver as a furry. It looked hilarious, they should have toned down on the likeness a bit (since each avatar is tailored to their human, they have facial similarities).
Positives
- Visually stunning. Some of the best rendered imagery I've seen from any movie.
- The 3D really pulled you into the environment. Everything that was going against it (from what I listed above) is made acceptable by the engulfing shots of Pandora. Its also funny feeling just a slight bit of vertigo when they pan from higher elevations.
- Cameron is almost there with making 3D comfortable and normal to watch. As the movie progressed you're left the the sense of depth but the effect did not intrude on the scenes (except where one of the negative scenarios above rear they're head).
- The CG work was amazing. I honestly could not discern what was live action and what wasn't (in regards to the human structures and the human animation), they blended everything perfectly. Now there are moments where something doesn't look right but its not "Hey, that's CG!" it felt less obvious for some reason. The facial gesture work was mind blowing.
So this movie definitely is one giant techdemo. I couldn't really find anything redeeming about the story and characters but absolutely loved the technology behind it (and the execution). Glad I watched it in theaters cause I would not want to watch it again at home without a huge screen and 3D.