I’ve spent a solid portion of my existence in particularly large, dark rooms, with a bunch of strangers. Theaters, mind you. And those theaters have contained everything from mind-blowing stories, visual feasts, comedies nearly driving me to tears, and of course, absolute garbage. As a film student, it’s easy to become jaded to what’s out there, what is or definitely is not impressive, etc. So when I first saw a preview of Avatar, I was absolutely unimpressed.

Avatar, at first glance, looked like Fern Gully with space marines. I mean that’s a fantastically amusing idea, but for the last year I’d heard all sorts of whispered hype (growing to a proverbially goddamn roar in the last few months) about how revolutionary it is, how “OMG James Cameron finally decided to make another movie with a budget larger than most third-world countries”, and so on. And then I remember the trailer with these goofy-damned blue people running around. It was an uphill battle. Honestly, if it weren’t for knowing James Cameron’s track record of making solid, huge films, I probably would’ve wrote it off and waited for the DVD.

And maybe I would have if it weren’t for the fevor of a Cameron fan and fellow film student I know, who, when I told I’d probably just see it in 2D, flipped shit and told me my “head would explode”. Curious, and with the advantage of going somewhere for Christmas break near several metropolitan areas, I looked into what was available. Turned out we had an opportunity not only for 3D (fail, Bozeman, fail), but for IMAX; two technologies that by themselves have always struck me as pretty gimmicky (though I find IMAX more enticing) but together, combined with a true Hollywood film, well… Now I was interested, and made the trip with my brother and my father.

When we were walking out, my dad- who’s typically “meh” about movies- made the comment: “That was the coolest damn thing I’ve ever seen.” Which more or less sums up my feelings. I have never, in my life, sat in a theater and gone “holy shit” in my head with awe so many times.

Before I dive into the visuals, I want to make something abundantly clear: This is not a revolutionary or particularly innovative story and anybody expecting otherwise needs to re-watch the rest of Cameron’s films. None of them are. This is not a Coen Bros. film or a Kaufman script- if you want to be challenged by the plot, seek it elsewhere. That said, it’s engaging, extremely well-paced and well-directed (sans Weaver, who strangely wasn’t all there). That kind of solidness is what you should be expecting from a Cameron story, nothing more.

Now, here’s why people are raving: The visuals are jaw-dropping. Full-blown Mechs with live-action people seamlessly inside, all manner of futuristic technology and weaponry rendered believably right in front of you, dense rainforests- lush green in the day, but sporting an amazing neon color palette during the night, people riding goddamn dragons while shooting flaming arrows, mountains cloaked in mist floating near the fucking stratosphere, and that’s just the beginning. This is a behemoth of science fiction, nothing less, and for two hours and forty minutes, you will BELIEVE all of it. Make no mistake, this is the next evolution of computer-generated technology. From a technical standpoint, books could be written about this film: Green-screen compositing that is fucking flawless, motion capturing that is bar-none the best ever done; every facial expression and (very nearly) every movement is utterly real. You WILL forget that nearly half the characters and locations in front of you do not, in reality, exist.

As I said, I witnessed this in IMAX 3D, and that’s what really pushed this into a whole new realm for me. In terms of IMAX, the wow-factor is very simple: It’s a massive screen, unlike anything I’ve ever been in front of (and allegedly, our screen was smaller than standard IMAX).  In terms of 3D, that’s the other revolution here.

This film goes far beyond a few gimmicky shots that make you think “it’s like I can touch you!”. Hallways and rooms inconsequential to the focus of a scene stretch off into the distance, as though the screen were just a window. Characters pop-out, at times uncanny in their detail; I’m not sure if its a combination of the large-format and 3D, or just 3D, but there were moments that my brain understood the physical presence of something in the film the same way it does in reality. That may sound dull, but it’s exactly that sort of subtlety that sells the effect- most of the 3D is supplemental to the content. However, there are some real jaw-dropping moments purely by way of 3D and they are, of course, the environment. As the camera pans down with someone diving off an enormous waterfall, you feel it. It was enough to instill a (wonderful) moment of vertigo in me, and this is repeated ten fold for sequences with Avatars flying on the backs of pteryodactal-like creatures, as they soar over the landscape and, fantastically, dive straight down for it. Some of it is obviously showy, but you really, really won’t care.

It is somewhat hard to describe in words. In a nutshell though, as witnessed in 3D IMAX, Avatar is a visual experience currently unrivaled by any other piece of cinema. Personally, the only other thing in my life that comes close to touching it was the stage show for Tool’s 10000 Days tour.  It is, however, unfortunate knowing that it’ll be rare for most people to experience Avatar this way, particularly in the northwest where IMAX is almost non-existent and 3D is still somewhat hard to come by. But Avatar’s content, even 3D on a standard screen, is still liable to wow. I worry it’ll lose some luster in 2D, but I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve had the pleasure.

I don’t usually write film reviews, the reason being I usually feel like I’m telling people what movies they should or shouldn’t like. Some simply are not for everyone (most of my personal collection, in fact), and I firmly believe if you want to see something you should, regardless of what anyone else tells you. But in the case of Avatar, I think the sheer force of innovation and eye-candy contained within is enough that almost anyone can enjoy it.

Bottom line: Go see Avatar.

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