Avatar {2009}

[Benjamin Haines]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?pa ... avatar.htm

Well, after a $77 million opening weekend, and in the face of some tough competition in the form of Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 this week, Avatar's second weekend has yielded $75 million, a mere 2.6% drop from last weekend. And that's in addition to the $16 million daily Monday through Wednesday and $11 million on Thursday, plus the foreign haul, for a worldwide total of $615 million in 10 days. Not bad.

I still haven't seen it.

[metal_bryan]

[mr.negativity]

From CHUD:

[jellydonut25]

[jellydonut25]

[king_ghidorah]

[jellydonut25]

I've done a full review of Avatar.

I come down overly harsh, but I didn't hate the movie by any means.

[MouthForWar]

[ultrazilla2000]

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

Well apparently Avatar is now going to be the first in a trilogy

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/12/21/ja ... -mtv-news/

[metal_bryan]

[ultrazilla2000]

[Green Dragon]

[Green Dragon]

The place was sold out and judging from demographic makeup of the crowd, the movie has definitely entered the awareness of everyone.

During the movie, I noticed only one little kid with their dad get up and come back. I'm sure dad would've rather the kid just went by himself, too.

The place was packed, the Imax showings are still selling out. I can't say how it's doing in the regular theaters and after the wow effect is laying off now, I would have to say I am glad to have seen this in Imax rather than a regular theater, that truly gave the movie the event feeling it was striving for, and I must say as I sat there, I was staring at the screen with my mouth not entirely shut.

But, the sense of urgency during the final battles didn't pack the wallop that they should have, because the tropes and storylines have been done so many times before, you know the dance but not the steps and that's what keeps you hooked. They're definitely interesting steps, too, but nothing you realize as "new". Even though Star Wars wasn't "new", when it was unleashed on the world it was huzzah-ed as a "fresh take" on the old. Too much has been released and rehashed since then for that to ever be the case again, but there were moments where it felt a little inside like watching that movie for the first time in 1977. That itself is an accomplishment, I'm glad Cameron pulled it off.

The corporate/military/invader villains were a bit 2-dimensional, I actually found the Na'vi to be more interesting, and in the moment, adequately believeable in their rendering. One thing I found to be a pleasant surprise was their blue skin didn't come off as garish and saturated as the ads, posters, etc make them out to be...not only that, but even translucent in tone.

The creatures of Pandora were all in various degrees of competent. What really got me, though, was the plant life, the diverse forms of it, and especially the nocturnal landscapes, and the Seeds from the Sacred Tree. The Floating Mountains as well, too.

Something to consider.... would I really be talking about any of this if I saw it in 2d or on a regular sized screen? I think so....But then, when it comes time to get the dvd, maybe they'll have 3d perfected for blu-ray (which I'll probably have by then). I think the commentaries and extras would probably be interesting enough to see.

One thing I thought I would find overhwelming but wasn't, was the soaring camera scenes where Jake was flying his, uh, bird. I would have thought some of the motion in those scenes would have been enough to give you a physical rush, but sadly, no.

The 3d was very well integrated, though. Never came off as a "gimmick", and it's the first 3d movie I've seen since this current trend.

Would I see it again in a theater? In 3d Imax, yes, but not by myself.

[Pkmatrix]

[king_ghidorah]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[VinceA]

Saw Avatar at a 10:15AM showing on New Year's Day at an IMAX 3D theater. By the time the trailers started the theater was practically full with the exception of some seats in the front three rows.

Amazing presentation, predictable story but loved it nonetheless. I fully expect the film to be very profitable for Cameron & the studio.

[Andrew Nguyen]

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

[metal_bryan]