It's Just My Opinion

I finally went to see Avatar last night. My husband had already seen it and thought my daughter and I would like it, and my son had already seen it and loved it, but he saw it in 2D the first time, so we saw it in 3D. Before he saw it, my son used to say, "I don't want to see a movie about Smurfs on steroids!" He changed his mind about that. Overall, I give the movie a B. That's actually a pretty high rating coming from me!

The main character, Jake Sully, is played by Sam Worthington who, although he is way too young for me, is not difficult to look at, even as an Omaticayan. We'll also see him in the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans, which is set for April release. I was thrilled to see Michelle Rodriguez (formerly Ana Lucia from Lost. Did you know she's from Texas? Austin area). And Sigourney Weaver was excellent as scientist Grace Augustine. How appropriate for her to be in this "alien" type movie, although most of the movie-goers are probably too young to remember her in the Alien movies. Those were also by director James Cameron. Coincidence? Probably not.

The premise is simple. Earth people invade the moon Pandora because of their wealthy supply of a precious element. They send in an Avatar (grown from a cross of native and human DNA) to infiltrate the native society to learn about their ways in order to get them to relocate. The Avatar grows to love and appreciate the Na'vi people and their beliefs. I won't spoil the action or ending for anyone who hasn't seen it, but that's the basic idea. I was pleased with the way the movie ended.

Director/writer James Cameron (also of Titanic fame) did a fabulous job with the scenery, special effects, and musical score. However, the movie does become a bit "preachy" with its parallels to Native Americans and early American settlers as well as its, how shall I say it, anti-marine and anti-war overtones. The movie is also extremely long - runtime 162 minutes, not including advertisements and previews.

If you haven't seen it, I would suggest seeing it in a theater in 3D if possible. The special effects are just too good to waste on a 42" TV screen.