Id never been to an IMAX screening before. Theyre massive screens arent they? Almost like an entire walla tsunami-like wavewhere images threaten to pulverise the audience. And this seems to be
James Camerons intentions for the 3-D release of his latest film
Avatar. It is pure Cameron:
loud, brash, macho, stupid and occasionally breathtaking. A publicity representative gave a little speech before the film and completely stone-faced said:
This could be the greatest film of all-time. The entire audience laughed. Quite audibly. The fifteen minute clip introduces the character of Jake Sully (
Sam Worthington) on a spaceship with a startling, albeit, much more expensive-looking set design reminiscent of
Aliens (1986).
Theres even cryogenic sun-bed-type thing. And
Sigourney Weaver plays a doctor! The rest of the preview footage is set on the alien planet, Pandora and introduces the Navi beings who look, quite frankly, like they belong in an Xbox 360 gameor something like that. There are also dinosaur-type beasts and flying dragons too. It is all remarkable looking and yet strangely distancing. Asking the audience to emotionally invest in a story of cartoon-looking giant blue aliensit is a bit mad, and Im sure Cameron is holding some wonderful stuff back for the big release. Yet the creeping fear that this is little more than a computer game on a giant screen is hard to shake. The Navi have an
Apocalypto-vibe about themcertainly elements of primitivismthat actually comes across as a bit racist or unimaginative at best. Are they truly alien if they have such identifiable human ethnic traits?
Cameron has been banging on about the technology behind his new flick, and making all kinds of claims about an new era of photorealism. I also remember
Joel Silver bragging about bar-raising for
The Matrix Reloaded. And we all know how that turned out. And the dialogue, or should that be, dire-logue? To quote
Harrison Ford and his response to the nonsense
George Lucas wrote in
Star Wars:
You can type this shit, George but you sure cant say it. Whereas Ford was complaining about the gobbledegook aspects of Lucas sci-fi talk, Cameron has his characters in the few scenes in which there is dialogue talking like they are from Brooklynwill people in the future really be saying such things as
What you got? and
Thats what Im talking about, bitch? In the future? Really? And the Navi speak in a silly broken-English:
You like a baby. Ignorant.
Of course, this is only fifteen minutes of mad footage designed to impress and perhaps cause illnessit is a gleeful assault on the eyes and ears of the audience. There is the feeling that Camerons supposed glorious return to filmmaking is going to be met with a shrug. Of course, one needs to wait to make a final verdict. Avatar is also going to be released in 2-D for those who do not wish to sit through a film wearing something akin to giant sunglasses in an IMAX screen. The 3-D, I found to be quite stomach-churning. One can equate it to a kind of sea-sickness. The camera is constantly moving and Cameron seems to be taking much delight in throwing all kinds of digital tricks at the audience. Do we really need to see Sigourney Weavers head in 3-D? Is this the future of cinema? A cinema that is cold, aloof and technological. Wheres the humanity?
Screenshots thanks to Worst Previews