After facing the fact that I was the only one left in American that hadn’t seen Avatar, my wife and I finally made it out to the 3D adventure. I had been quietly anticipating this movie for a while, never really expressing a frenzied anxiousness to see it, but I held a more reserved hope that it could be as good as everyone said it was.

-How did the hype affect the film?

What drove me to shy away from overtly expressing my “want” to see this movie could be summed up in one word: hype. There has been a tremendous amount of hype for this film, hype that I haven’t seen since Watchmen or The Dark Knight. The world was on the edge of their seat just waiting to behold the spectacle that James Cameron called, “nothing you’ve ever seen before.” That’s a lot to live up to. It was almost too surmountable for me to even attempt to measure my own expectations. I was fearful that the hype would overshadow the movie itself. That’s such a force to be reckoned with nowadays. With the studios pouring every cent into marketing their films to viral campaigns being started, to hordes of fans starting their own Facebook groups in anticipation. So, how did the hype of Avatar affect my experience? Although the hype was surreal, it only served to magnify how amazing Avatar is!

-Was Avatar just a “movie to be seen” or to be “experienced?”

There are times when you go see a movie that it’s just that: going to see a movie. It’s fun, it’s casual, it’s an escape from everyday life that allows you to just let go of all of your worries for a couple of hours. Avatar is NOT just a movie to go see on a Saturday afternoon! The experience of watching Avatar was unlike anything I have ever experienced. James Cameron was right about this film being “unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.” Avatar is by far one of the Top 5 Most Beautiful films I’ve ever seen. I think Cameron’s film is going to be a bar-setter, much like The Matrix and Lord of the Rings were for their respective technological breakthroughs.

-In a world full of CGI, how did the film retain its heart?

How could a film that is composed of 60% CGI have such an affect on me and the world? Take away all of the technology, the effect, the crazy visuals, and you get back to the basics of film: the characters make the film come alive. In order to pull this kind of film off, a film that spends most of its time in a fake world created by computers, you need to have believable and authentic characters to lead the way. Pulling this off the best, in my opinion, was Zoe Saldana. Her portrayal of Neytiri was sensational and amazing, and absolutely touching. I thought that Sam Worthington was believable but that you could have cast anyone in that role and it wouldn’t have mattered. Sigourney Weaver I thought had the best character development through the film. In the beginning she is shown as being a bitter scientist who knows that what she is passionate about and why she is there flies in the face of her superiors and isn’t taken seriously. Instead of just staying that way, her character develops a love for the Na’vi and ultimately finds her home there. Beautiful. One of the surprise characters that I actually liked, who I am not supposed to, was Stephen Lang’s Colonel Miles Quaritch. He was sobering to watch on screen. It’s easy to paint him as a thoughtless American soldier who is bent on murdering and punishing the Na’vi because of how “alien” they are and how different they are. For me, I really think that because he’s been there so long and has had to fight for his life, that he truly rationalizes his actions, not out of some intense anti-Na’vi hatred, but because logically, it makes sense to him. He doesn’t know any other reality. The most awkward character was Giovanni Ribisi’s Parker Selfridge. I am sorry, that’s not him. That was not a good casting decision.

-What about the story being just a copycat of other films?

A lot has been said about the story and whether or not it’s a direct copy of Pocahontas, or Dances with Wolves, or Last of the Mohicans, or E.T. (ok, I made the E.T. part up), and in the end, it didn’t matter. Cameron didn’t worry about all of those comparisons, instead he focused on creating a majestic world full of rich contrasts and perfect execution in its beauty. As fantastical as it is, Cameron makes the world of Pandora almost seem familiar. It’s full of rich color and wonder and depth of detail that makes for an eye-orgasm. Yes, I said it. As far as the other allegories associated with oppression and the comparisons to our current state with Iraq and the war, I get it, and I can see how you could follow that all the way through, but to me, it wasn’t a distraction. I didn’t notice it enough to make it ruin the whole movie for me.

-Does the length of the film take away from the quality overall?

After talking with a lot of my friends and family that have seen the film, the one thing they always say that is the one negative of this film is the length. “It was too long” is all I have been hearing. I never once noticed how long it was. I was thoroughly engaged into the entire Pandora universe the whole time, so much so, that 2 and a half hours passed like nothing. I realize that a long action movie can be dangerous because typically you have the main action scenes and then a bunch of useless and disconnected filler stuff. Cameron’s action never seemed to drag on nor was it bloated with useless and meaningless banter. I found the pace to be comfortable and engaging.

-Are there elements of 9/11 woven throughout?

I won’t give away spoilers (though I am sure you have all seen it by now) but there’s a scene involving the “Hometree” that really felt like 9/11 to me. The thundering explosions, the way the tree fell, the camera work, was all very reminiscent of how 9/11 felt. The frenzy of the crowd of Na’vi’s running, the power of the tree falling with the debris crushing people below, even the sheer force of when the tree finally hit the ground…all of it was very surreal and emotional. I wonder if Cameron used that as a reference when studying explosions and huge objects coming crashing down. That’s a random aside, but one that I felt was worth mentioning if even to see if anybody else noticed that?

-Did you notice the awkward profanity?

One of the confusing and disappointing aspects of the film to me was the unnecessary use of profanity. I didn’t at all expect there to be as much swearing as there was. It’s not a deal breaker for me nor did it ruin the film, but the fact that I noticed it apart from the whole leads me to believe that it wasn’t a good fit. There were a lot of kids in the theater and a few that I overheard saying during the parts where there were swearing, “I don’t understand what’s going on.” It felt very creepy to see Sully or Grace use profanity as a Na’vi. It was like watching a smurf swear. Awkward.

-What has Avatar done for the future of films?

After the credits rolled, I knew I had just witnessed history. James Cameron has changed the way we look at and create films. Avatar was a beautiful and rich film that touched me and made me believe. My co-worker gave me a one word review after he saw the film: overwhelming. And I have to agree with him, but what I will add to that will be: awestruck. You can’t leave the theater after seeing Avatar and not be in awe. Is this a look into the future of film making?

Content Warning: Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking. I wouldn’t recommend this film for kids. It would be too much to explain and with the one “sensual” scene, it might be too much.

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