My Review of Avatar (from a writer's perspective)

Summary: (Taken from Yahoo Movies)

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not exist yet. Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, a live action film with a new generation of special effects, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

My Opinion:

I was afraid that the movie would be too cartoony and, at first, it's hard to adjust to. But as I fell into the story and the characters the graphics didn't bother me. In fact, I was amazed. It's a visual smorgasbord that stuns the viewer with a fully imagined alien world. The great detail is enough of a reason to go back and watch again.

And Sigourney Weaver is amazing. Channeling her inner "Ripley", I hated her at first for her acerbic attitude and hard edge. Then, as the story unfolded and I saw what she was up against, her role turned into more of a Diane Fossey from "Gorillas in the Mist." Sam Worthington as the paraplegic ex-marine was all good looks and charm, and a little bland, but it fits his role. Zoe Saldana gave an emotional and sexy performance as the love interest and alien Pocahontas, Neytiri. I found myself routing for her and her people.

Bottom line:

This movie has intense emotional moments, a big message about peace and the environment, and really pulls at the heartstrings.

From a writer's point of view, the characterization is as three dimersional as the film and the fact that the protagonist is taking his brother's place and doesn't have the knowledge or expertice is ironic and twists the plot in directions that it wouldn't otherwise go.

I don't usually review movies, but this one was special and nothing much is happening in the writing world right now. I have several short stories out there waiting to hear back and I'm still ploughing through edits for Messenger in the Mist. I'll be gone for three days to North Carolina, so I'll blog again after the New Year. Hopefully I'll have pictures of my brother's wedding by then!

Did anyone else see Avatar? What did you think???