Avatar

At last, the time has come and today I was finally able to go and see Avatar in glorious 3D at the IMAX. Having waited all this time, with the event being put off - mainly because of the weather and my reluctance to drive - I was simply hoping that the excitement and trepidation wasn't all going to be in vain. Thankfully it didn't disappoint and without going into too much detail so as to ruin the plot and ruin for those of you who haven't managed to get out and see it yet I will try and convey how amazing and ground breaking it actually was.

It makes a nice change to be able to give something a generally positive review on here as I have noticed a trend towards negativity and nitpicking in these mini-reviews if you can call them that. One of the reasons I love going to the IMAX is when you get to see films like this as they were meant to be. It's all very well seeing them at a normal cinema in 2D or even 3D but the extra impressiveness you get from the IMAX experience as they call it really is not to be sniffed at. This film is one of the first that has been able to fully exploit the potential of the environment at the IMAX because of the level of detail that James Cameron (the director) has gone into when developing the movie. In a fashion similar to that of George Lucas with Star Wars, Cameron has created a whole world - Pandora - along with a language, a culture and character back stories. There was also a language created specifically for the creatures known as the Na'vi in similar detail to that of the fictional Klingon language in the Star Trek universe. On top of this, a multitude of flora and fauna have been created and give a stunning vision of Pandora, so much so that there are groups that have been set up online with people so desperate to live on Pandora that they are willing to do damage to themselves to get there.

I'm not anywhere near going that far but I will say that it does look like a magical place to live. The Na'vi have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the environment around them, similar to that in Disney's Pocahontas but to a much greater level. The Na'vi and many of the creatures of Pandora have a sort of nerve outlet at the bottom of their ponytails which allows them to communicate directly with many of the creatures and plants. When riding the horse like creatures, they simply 'dock' these outlets and can take control of the creature, willing it to do their bidding. In a similar way they connect with special trees of the forest believing them to be the tree of souls and the tree of voices that allow them to communicate with their ancestors and can link them to the biological network that connects the whole of Pandora. This can be seen through the bioluminescence of the plant life when the Na'vi run through the forest and come in contact with the grass or the plants, they glow on contact as though they are linked.

Perhaps the only bad part of the movie is the storyline, which is a little bit thin on the ground and nothing ground breaking or new. This can all be forgiven however when you consider that just five years ago, this project was deemed impossible because the technology didn't exist. They had to invent live action 3D cameras and a plethora of rendering and special effects techniques to use in the move and it really has paid off. My biggest gripe is that they called the mineral deposit that the humans are searching for on Pandora - unobtainium, and whilst apparently this is a common term for an extremely rare material (see Wikipedia's entry) it would be nice if they could have come up with something a bit more original rather than this slightly jokey term.

If you do have the chance to see it, as with most other people who have seen the film, I urge you to go and watch it before it is too late. I really cannot see how it will translate to the small screen in anywhere near as much detail and charm as on the big screen. Not only will it be forced into 2D - for the mean time at least - but forcing it onto a small screen will lose the effect of being truly absorbed into the environment of the world and everything in it.