Ok, so the story isn’t deep — seriously, the guy beside me in the theatre brought a four year old and a six year old and despite the disturbing parenting choice they both “got it” just fine.
And even though the er… avatars didn’t quite make it out the other side of the uncanny valley, they were close, oh so very close. I can honestly say that there were many scenes where it never even occurred to me to think about how long it would have taken to render.
You owe it to yourself to go see this in 3D. Even if it doesn’t seem like your kind of movie, the sheer artfulness of it is enough. Afterwards, leave a comment. There are things worth discussing.
Update: There are likely to be spoilers in the comment stream, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t click through.
Wow, it rocked! I saw it in IMAX 3D and some of the “big” scenes, esp. the aerial ones, were just off the charts compelling. I was just in awe. And the best part was it wasn’t awe in the effects, it was awe in the scene, ie: the good kind.
The story was 100% pure standard processed cheese, but it didn’t hurt it too much in the end…
I walked out of the theatre thinking, “My god, they’ll probably try to make a sequel”. But no, that would be just just too stupid…
http://io9.com/5431490/what-comes-after-avatar-more-avatar
I thought the world design was very cool. I particularly liked the “axon in your pony tail” for connecting to the planetary brain.
Oh, that link to the trilogy notion has me worried… but yes, I love that he chose a lower gravity / richer planet for it. Gives lots of space for new visual (and plot) themes.
It was truly sci-fi lite though. But perhaps not such a terrible thing, esp. if it moves the “acceptable” bar in hollywood towards more risky endeavours.