I’m going to go ahead and be ignorant and say…I don’t care what anyone else has to say about this film…ever…because I think it’s wicked, epic, and freaking awesome! And I seriously mean all that. Forget ‘Iron Man’ or ‘Transformers’ and whatever else; James Cameron’s AVATAR literally blew me away on a level beyond any of those other films. It’s so spectacular I just…gah! I don’t even have words in my vocabulary great enough to praise it. Oh, and for once it’s not centrally the story that drew me into the film.

Ok, so not that the story was boring or anything – it’s actually pretty interesting (oh no, don’t expect me to give it away here). Although, it does seem like an old idea that’s been used one too many times to me (heck Hayao Miyazaki did it in ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’ and ‘Princess Mononoke’); mind you, those two were pretty spectacular films too, plus AVATAR’s story does deviate from that idea quite a bit so I ain’t exactly complaining.

That aside, along with the fact that I actually myself have suggestions for improving the film (haha, I’m studying too much here people!), let’s get on to what really interested me about Cameron’s AVATAR.

First, quite obvious but I would so have to say I fell deep in love with the movie’s graphics. Cameron’s directing makes it almost painfully evident that he’s trying to draw viewer attention to the world around the story’s protagonist, somewhat urging those watching in the cinema to look (and I mean ‘really’ look) at his envisioned world of Pandora; and perhaps immerse themselves in it. Gotta hand it to the famed director, he sure knows how to frame his shots and use his characters well to achieve this (if it even was what he was going for, haha!) – making Jake play around with all that unbelievably-eccentric flora noticeably near the start of the film. It injects curiosity and humor too, which is good, since it sort of slips in there the reminder that Pandora is a world alien to us humans (or those in the film in this sense).

Anyway, Final Fantasy fans are sure to love the film’s many landscapes and sceneries. Cameron’s chucked a whole lot in there and AVATAR is practically a dream-come-true for people like me who have always been aching for something like this to be put on the big screen. Think Final Fantasy 12 (sort of), only way better!

I don’t know if it’s just me but locations such as the tropical-marine-ish (lol, watch the darn movie and see for yourselves!) forest, as well as the floating mountains in the film really made me feel as if I was in this epic game world; especially since those floating mountains reminded me of Bhujerba City from FF12. You can bet there were various other angled extreme-long shots of Pandora’s landscape in the film that jilted my memory of something from one of the Final Fantasy titles too. And if that wasn’t enough, one has to marvel at all the unique wildlife that was created to be a part of Pandora’s world.

Have to admit, when I first watched the film’s trailer several months back, I remember my mind being in heated debate on whether those ‘blue people’ were computer generated or not.

Surprise surprise, they are! (Yeah yeah, they just looked so real). We’ve come a very long way since the days of ‘Tron’ people!

So yes, graphics equal a definite plus for this film. And what else captured me? Being honest, I loved the themes (I guess this is somewhat related to the story) of the film. For anyone who has watched it, I would think they already know what those themes are then. After all, director Cameron is practically spoon-feeding them to us viewers rather forcefully throughout the entire film; so forcefully in fact that you might just have to be asleep in the cinema to not get it. Still, let’s get real: no one would be sleeping through this movie unless they hadn’t had any sleep seven days prior or something. Anyways, seen ‘Princess Mononoke’ before? Then go figure.

Finally, yeah, I’ve just went through what basically got me into the film. Everyone who reads my blog should honestly know by now that I can so go on with that. However, a certain ‘somebody’ is waiting on me to finish this here blog post and update the freaking thing so she can read it now though, so I guess I’ll just move on to what literally…made the film for me...

Hmm, I suppose I would describe it as the main message Cameron was trying to get across to his viewers through the film. Oh, it’s not hard to grasp, but probably something people might just have to either pay attention to as the film progresses, or reflect critically on the whole she-bang after watching it. I was lucky enough to actually get it at the very end of the film, though I had picked up hints of it along the way (yay, my awareness is improving! Lol~). Here’s a clue – it’s in the post title…

“I see you.” One simple phrase, yet so powerful.

Cameron had his two leads constantly repeating that one phrase, over and over throughout the film (or so it seemed like it was being repeated over and over to me). Yes, I have to admit I thought the repetitions got a little corny after a while and were somewhat overdone...and then when I saw the ending…

It. Seriously. Just. Hit me! – it’s all about opening our eyes!

The whole darn freaking film is about that one stupid quote! The camera angles, the shots, the excessive amount of screen time Pandora’s landscape gets, the characters constantly looking about their surroundings…it’s all crapping there! GOSH!!! Ok, so yes, I sound crazy right about now but how many people who watched AVATAR actually saw/thought that/came to that conclusion the first time around? It is probably my theory anyway that this was what Cameron was trying to do; open our eyes…

On second thought, I’m quite positive of it. Man, what I would give to be a director of such caliber. The movie posters (well, some of the first – I think) kept showing the eyes (or eye?) of a Na’vi. Oh, and I think the way the film opens and closes is proof enough – it actually opens (more or less) with Jake opening his eyes and ends with the same thing: Jake opening his eyes!

Haha, ok, I am so amused by this film, seriously. I’ll need to watch it again to try to see if I can get anything else from it though. I guess that is a huge part of why I think I’m doing the right thing for now: studying media at RMIT. There’s just this thrill about being able to watch and try to comprehend films like these and so much more. I should probably stop my rant now. Know what, here you go oh-bored-maggie-mee-lover-friend-of-mine.

Go! Entertain yourself with tis post which will probably only catch your attention no longer than the 5 or 10 minutes you'll take to read it and then forget it right after. Pffffft! XD

PS :: By the way, thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday this year~ I'm really happy! ^_^