Yesterday was "Avatar day" as dubbed by Fox. This is James Cameron's first film since Titanic (which was ages ago) and he has been developing it for a long, long time. The amount dollars that have been sunk on this will probably never be known, but rest assured it is a massive amount. So, the studio along with Cameron held an event in theaters all across the country. They showed off 15 minutes (or so) of footage from the movie in IMAX 3D to make people's jaws drop.
How was it and how did it go? Well, the best thing I can say is that the 3D tech was really strong. It was nice 3D. But the film itself seemed very sterile and dare I say boring. My wife, M, absolutely hated it. The designs look bad all around, the computer effects are cartoony, and the story seemed a bit redundant. I personally thought it felt more like digital art storyboards from art school graduates in motion as opposed to photo real. Now, if they were going for this, awesome. BUT - the problem is everyone involved, Cameron included, have been claiming your eyeballs will catch fire with how amazing and groundbreaking it looks. It does not come anywhere close to this level. District 9 looks loads better and it only cost a reported 30 million.
The marketing campaign is a wreck too, in my opinion. From the director of Titanic? Really? You have a huge sci-fi movie and that is the message you want to send? How about from the director of Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, and the Abyss. That would hit much better with fans and people who would be interested in this. Or maybe not, the footage was very romantic in a "I know you are not from my people, but I love & believe in you anyways" kind of way. Maybe this is this is the chick sci-fi epic flick. A movie for Twilight fans in space.
I could be wrong. It is James Cameron. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and see it. But will most everyone else? The theater was mostly full, but response was largely MEH. I heard a few younger people (16/17) who said how awesome it looked. Mostly though, I heard a big uneventful sigh. Scary for something that was to be an eye firing hype beast.
On a very positive note, after the footage we headed over a screen for Inglourious Basterds. Film knocked my socks off. I will post more complete thoughts after I see it again. And maybe even see it again, which is absolutely unheard of for me (I did hit Moon and D9 twice, but not thrice).
1 comment:
I definitely got the feeling that I have seen this concept and design a trillion times before.
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