And to give you the short answer: WOW.
And now for something completely different:
Whenever it first got out that James Cameron was directing a new movie, his first since Best Picture winner and highest grossing film ever "Titanic" (1997), the buzz began immediately. Then, when a seemingly final release date was secured for mid/late December of 09, things only got wilder. There were some fake concept drawings, then some real ones, and then finally it all came together at the 2009 Comic Con, where several thousand people got to see nearly half and hour of completed footage. Reaction was enormously positive, and when Avatar Day and the day-before trailer release were announced, the hype reached unprecendented levels. But of course, such things come to an end. With the release of the trailer the backlash began, with people calling the hyped special effects cartoony or "just plain underwhelming". Some argued that this was because the film wasn't mean for small screens, to which many scoffed. Well, having seen just under 20 minutes of footage about an hour ago, in 3D and on a IMAX screen, I can finally give my two cents on the hype-behemoth that is "Avatar".
We were shown five scenes, before cutting back to the last half of the trailer with a few split second clips of new footage. All scenes were from the first half of the movie, and according to Cameron's brief intro, included no spoilers. Here's a brief rundown of what I saw:
1. Paraplegic soldier Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) listens in as a gruff sergeant fills prepares them to experiece the world of Pandora, which he labels as something like Hell, because just about everything will try to rip you to shreds. The scene was mostly live action, so no big screen glimpse of the effects yet.
2. Jake and Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) are "plugged into" their avatars, which are big blue humanoid creatures modeled off of the native Na'Avi population, which will allow them to better traverse Pandora's terrain. Our first glimpse at the effects is here. Though the detail on the skin of the avatars is remarkable, you can see a bit of contrast between the avatars and the live actors on screen. It's not huge, but if you look carefully, it's there. The effects here are amazing, but as of yet, it's still pretty hard to top the real thing.
3. Jake, Grace, and a third man (all in their avatar bodies) get into a nasty spot in a jungle with a large rhino-like creature. Jake manages to make the beast stand down before being chased by a large tiger-like creature. It's here, where everything is computer generated or created from motion capture suits, that the effects shine. The detail is ridiculously good, and never for one second did I have any doubts about where I was; I was on Pandora plain and simple. But its not just the avatars and wildlife. Everything, from the trees to the smaller plants to the ground is so unbelievably detailed and life like that it's hard to take in a first (in a good way).
4. Nightime, and Jake, now separated from his companions, is being attacked by some nasty dog-sized creatures. Neytiri (Zoe Saldana, who was Uhura in this year's Star Trek), a Na'Avi, leaps in and kills the creatures, but then scolds Jake. Here we finally get to see the much talked about bioluminesent plant life, and it's beautiful. The leaves, the flowers, all of it in some way lights up in the night, without looking cheesy or fake; this entirely green screen generated world pulses with life.
5. Jake, Neytiri, and two other Na'Avi go to a cliffside hatching ground of some very cool dragon-like creatures. After some difficulty, Jake manages to take control of one and bond with it mentally. The pair fly off, clumsily at first, before moving into steady flight, soaring around the cliffs and waterfalls of the floating mountains nearby. If possible, this scene blew everything else away. Even without live action actors, I never had any doubts. The Na'Avi, despite being slightly cat-like in their facial features (they have tails, too) feel totally believable and don't have that strange shininess that has plagued past motion-capture efforts like "Beowulf" (2007). Again, the detail is stunning, the settings so perfectly convincing that I stopped thinking about them, and the vistas so amazing.
Conclusion: There was a quote a read somewhere on the internet from someone who saw that footage at Comic Con, who said that, "after a while, it doesn't even feel like effects, it just feels like Cameron went to an actual alien planet and took a camera with him". This nails it on the head. Cameron's meticulous world breaths and feels totally believable, as well as totally immersive thanks to both the 3D and the camera work. It's a shame that most people (myself included) had to see it on such small video players first (even the Apple 420 HD screen still didn't measure up). It really is a big screen movie; there you can see why this thing took 14 years to develop, 4 to film, and nearly $300 million. I won't go so far as to label the visuals as the second coming of Christ, but after seeing this footage the way it's supposed to be seen, I say that it is a major step forward for visual effects and for movie making. Although, coming from a super perfectionist like Cameron, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. The only caveat of this experience? It left me wanting so much more, and now December 18th feels even further away.
Avatar Day Grade: A
No comments:
Post a Comment