Phil Gee Has Been to Pandora Tonight
Fri, August 21, 2009 
Hey folks, I just got back from the 15 minute IMAX 3D preview of Thunderca.....I mean Avatar and I thought I’d share my thoughts having entered the world of Pandora with completely fresh eyes tonight.
Avatar already represents something quite unique for me in its marketing in that it is virtually impossible these days to keep a big budget blockbuster, something that is meant to be a feast for the eyes and experienced on the big screen, from being experienced first on a dinky little computer monitor. I’d love to see, crazy thought it sounds, a sure fire hit that everyone is going to see like a Harry Potter have zero marketing before release. For them to release no footage, no trailers, just the posters and the release date. The idea of going into a film like that having absolutely no concept of what it’s going to look like even as you are waiting in line on opening weekend would jazz the hell out of me. Avatar’s marketing, critical though we have been of it from a business and audience awareness standpoint, has come as close to that feeling for me as I think anything could today.
I did not watch the trailer yesterday. Despite plenty of descriptions and one or two still images, I had no concept of what this film was going to look like. The first time I would see any footage from Avatar was on a giant IMAX screen in 3D. I think that’s how James Cameron would have wanted it for us all.
And until you put on those 3D glasses I really don’t think you can appreciate what Cameron is trying to achieve here. Until I saw the preview, neither did I. But after I walked out of the screening, I said to myself “I get it”. Avatar has been meticulously designed, shot and edited to create the most immersive film experience you have ever seen. Is it a film based around a gimmick rather than a great story? Almost certainly but that didn’t stop me from being extremely impressed with what I saw, with some reservations.
The scenes contained in the preview were:
1. Some kind of briefing scene by a military hard-ass preparing the soldier arrivals to planet Pandora on the incredibly hostile and deadly environment which awaits them. He assures that plenty of them will die. This was a simple dialogue piece which demonstrated the 3D effect in the simplest of scenes. It works very nicely though the dialogue is a little cheesy.
2. Our main character Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) being placed into a pod where upon his mind his placed into the avatar that will allow this former paraplegic to walk around Pandora as a 10 foot tall alien with legs very much active. Once inside the new body, Jake gets so excited the scientists try to tranquilise him but to no avail. First of all, I love the production design of the science base. It’s quite minimalist which gives it a grounding in reality. You do get a flashback to ‘Total Recall’ as Jake gets put inside the Avatar pod but there is some nice dialogue between Sigourney Weaver and Worthington.
As I saw the avatar Na’vi for the first time though I got a much worse flashback, to ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’. I remember being so impressed with the initial images of the characters in that film, their skin, eyes, hair, movement........and then I watched them talk and realised they had spent $200 million for nothing because it was so awfully jarring that it destroyed any performance those character could give. The same thing happens in this early scene. The skin texture, the movement and the way the Na’vi are integrated into the scene with real sets and actors is superb but as Jake stumbles around in his new body with a goofy expression on his face before exclaiming “this is great”, it looked dumb. I really did not like the faces on these particular Na’vi. They really did look gormless and I began to get worried.
3. An expedition party of avatars including Jake and Sigourney Weaver’s character encounter a pissed off multi-coloured Rhino type creature in the forests of Pandora which gets scared off, not by Jake as he assumes, but by an even larger nastier cat like creature which chases him into the jungle. Oh boy, we’ve seen this scene a billion times before and to make it worse, Jake insists on taunting the rhino creature he thinks is scared of him with “yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, you don’t wanna mess with me........bitch”. If I wanted to hear that sort of dialogue I’d watch Transformers 2 thank you very much.
On the positives, Sigourney Weaver’s avatar looked really great; spookily like her. Also, the chase through the jungle has put my fears to rest about a particular part of the 3D process that I have been concerned about ever since I saw Henry Selick’s ‘Coraline’. In that film, there were plenty of instances where the images were moving so quickly that the 3D just became an annoying blurred effect. I wondered whether this was simply because the human eye cannot process the image fast enough for it to become clear and since so many of these upcoming 3D movies will involve fast paced action and quick moving things, if the whole process was flawed. Cameron has convinced me with this scene that it is not. Either the technology has improved or he directs the scene at exactly the right pace but the chase is clear as crystal at all times and pretty exhilarating to boot as we wizz through the thick jungle in a single long shot following Jake.
4. Jake’s life is saved from the animals by Zoe Saldana’s character (who I will just call Cheetara for the benefit of this article). Now here’s where something interesting happened and I started to get comfortable with the look of the Na’vi. Jake suddenly doesn’t look as goofy anymore though I’m still not crazy about his appearance and Saldana looks fantastic, a totally convincing character. She has an electric presence to her from the moment she appears and commands the screen. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be the star of this show folks.
5. Cheetara walks off back into the jungle, now bathed in a beautiful multi-coloured twilight, and Jake follows to try and thank her for saving his life. She proceeds to lambaste him, comparing him to a baby trouncing around in his ignorance having no clue what to do or where to go and that the animals she killed need not have died were it not for his actions. Did I mention Saldana fucking rocks as this character? I’m sure I must have. My only concern about the scenes between these two is whether she’ll start singing ‘colours of the wind’ from Pocahontas at some point in the film. It sure looks like it’s going that way.
6. In the final scene, Jake and Cheetara are accompanied by a pack of other Na’vi as they traverse a cliff face to round up some bird like species to ride out on. The other aliens watch with glee as Jake tries to tame this one particular animal which he finally does while he’s in mid flight. A pretty cliché scene from a story perspective but a stunning one technically. The cliff, waterfall and the valley beyond look stunning and the 3D works best here out of all the scenes. You are on that cliff with them. In fact, one of the biggest compliments I can give to the footage is that I already have a real grasp of Pandora as a full realised world. I have a sense of the geography and from just 15 minutes footage, that is impressive.
7. There was a final montage of scenes, most of which focus on the gigantic battle between the Na’vi and the human soldiers in their exo-suits.
8. This was followed by a subliminal message which flashed across the screen saying “praise be to Cameron”.......
.....ok, I made that last part up. So having seen the preview, I’ve come away extremely excited to experience the film the way it is meant to be seen. I have no problem with the aliens not looking ‘photo-realistic’. In fact, I wish studios (and us) would stop using the term to describe computer generated characters. I simply do not think it is possible to create an other-worldly creature that can fool us into thinking it’s real. What makes computer generated characters real is what makes live action characters real, the performance of the actor and the writing. If you watch Lord of the Rings now, the character of Gollum does not seamlessly integrate with the sets and actors. He is real because is a wonderful character and that’s what we will need to see from the Na’vi.
If I don’t believe in their cause and care about those aliens when they start battling for their lives against the humans, 3D or not, it will mean nothing. Cameron and Fox also need to realise that eventually, I’m going to watch this film on my inky dinky DVD player, without 3D, without the immersion and it will have to rely totally on its story. Otherwise, it’s just another Beowulf. I do hope the film can make up for its apparent lack of originality with great characters that we can get involved with.
Nevertheless, I am no cynic after tonight. £12 British pounds right here Mr Cameron, I’m sold.
Ps. Having watched the regular teaser trailer afterwards, I think it's fantastic. I think it really sells the tone and the concept of the film. By all means disagree with me folks. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Reader Comments (9)
Phil. so after watching both 3D and the 2D trailer do you think that the 3D will help making the CGI more alive?
does pandora look very good? does it look organic and alive?
Phil i am happy that you saw it. you really wanted to see it and i think you deserved it.
i remember when you talked about Coraline. and i remember when you mentioned how it looked when somethin fast moved. Cameron at comic con talked about this. its in the video on youtbue when he is with Peter Jackson. movies are in 24 framaes per second. so 24 images are moving in one second. for 3D movies this is not enough. thats why he said that when you render it out in CGI it looks perfect. because you can render it out at more frames. but those cameras for live action filming are still at 24 frames. at least this is what i think he meant. but the digital projectior can already work with more frames. so i think in the future they will build better cameras that will support more frames per second. and they wont need to film with tricks to hide the artifacts.
"Is it a film based around a gimmick rather than a great story? Almost certainly "
That is where I checked out on this movie.
Dark B
That's really interesting; just further proof that Cameron really knows how to handle this technology. Pandora really has the feel of an inhabited planet full of life rather than a bunch of cobbled together piece of scenery. A great story is a great story whether in 2D or 3D and that's where the difference will count.
Cjeff
Maybe gimmick is too harsh a word. Clearly, Cameron has created this film as a showcase for the technology he hopes will be used by many future filmmakers (not so sure that's going to happen - too bloody expensive). But he is telling a story that could be done no other way.
is it true that it looks like you are watching through a window?
The technique that made Zack Snyder famous wasn't the first movie to use it. It was some Jolie flick called Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Story does matter. This may be a great new technology but considering most people will see this on 2-D screens(myself included if I go at all), the story should be good enough to survive on its own.
Dark B
I wouldn't say a window. You're not observing these scenes, you're in them.
CJeff
This is James Cameron we are talking about. The man knows how to tell a story. Do you think he's failed in that before?
i think this looks pretty realistic even for aliens.
http://www.internapse.com/gallery/v/media/movies/a/avatar/trailer/63.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1