The real deal

It’s three o’clock in the morning, and instead of curling up in my nice warm bed, I’m sitting here at my computer because I literally cannot stop thinking about the movie I just saw. “Avatar.” I do not exaggerate when I say that this is going to change the way movies are made.

“Avatar” is a movie by James Cameron ("Terminator 2," "Aliens," "Titanic") and he has been working on it for close to ten years, in order to invent the technology necessary to bring his vision to the screen.

His vision was a sci-fi epic, set on the magical jungle world of Pandora. Humans are trying to mine the planets resources, but are meeting resistance from the native blue-skinned Na’vi. So they bring in Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is a crippled marine, and put his mind into a remote controlled Na’vi body, an avatar, to go and make peace with the natives. While there, he goes a little native himself, falling in love with the people, particularly with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana)

If you only see one movie this year, it had better be this one. It was the most fantastic film experience I have ever seen. James Cameron takes motion capture technology to an incredible new high, making Robert Zemeckis’  attempts in “Christmas Carol” look like those of a two year old fumbling around with photoshop on his dad’s computer.

The CGI characters seem absolutely real, with deft and subtle facial nuances that are recognizable from the real actors in other parts of the film. I have never seen such “acting” come through in a CGI performance before. It invests the audience completely in the romance between the two big blue cartoon characters, and that’s no mean feat.

The 3-D experience is essential as well, with Cameron once again opting for subtle additions that help the story, without any of the “gotcha!”  moments with characters popping out of the screen at you. Regardless of the subtlety, it is the most immersive, dazzling, and impressive 3-D film I have ever seen.

“Avatar” shows the future of modern film-making. James Cameron steps up and shows everybody how it’s done, making a larger impact than he did in “Terminator 2”. I would not be far off to say that this movie is the most significant technological leap forward since “Star Wars”. And all of that shiny technology is only there to bring this heart-warming and simple story to life, making audiences lose themselves in the characters, believe in their struggles, and cheer for their success.

It is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theater. But now I better go to bed. I’ve got to get some sleep before I go see it again tomorrow.