Sam Worthington wonders whether blue will be very becoming of him

Avatar , just from the title it’s a film that belongs in the 21^st Century, with the word throwing up geeky images of everything from games consoles to message boards. When it comes to explaining what the film is about, no one seems to know. IMDB says “a band of humans are pitted in a battle against a distant planet’s indigenous populationâ€�, The Times says it’s “the movie changing film foreverâ€� and the official synopsis tells us that “On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love — as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization.â€�

It all sounds overwhelming, and strangely enough that is the most appropriate description yet, since from the first second beamed across London’s colossal BFI Imax screen the film was intense, exciting but an assault on the senses, and not altogether in a good way…

A lot of stress has been placed on the 3D aspect of the release, with endless articles on the new technology being implemented to trick the eyes ever further, but when you have only 17 minutes to absorb, your eyes have only just about adjusted to the new way of watching by the time it’s finished.

The first scene we were shown began with a stereotypical hardened veteran Sgt Major-type marine giving a pep-talk to his men. As the camera moves through the crowd you get your first sense of what 3D means in this film, it’s a far cry from the occasional pointed finger coming out of the screen. This is complex. Every soldier in the crowd has his own position either in front or behind another and quickly you find yourself immersed in the experience.

James Cameron surveys one of his futuristic inventions on the Avatar set

It was the CGI section of the footage though, which was the film’s crowning glory, since the 3D aspect seems naturally more suited to animation when compared to live-action. The ‘avatar’ creatures (the blue elfish-looking things that are on the poster) really show off how far computer animation has come in the past decade, transferring subtleties of lead man Sam Worthington’s performance like never before, and the tiny lights from the creatures’ skin flickering and shimmering demonstrates the product of 14 years of attention to detail from Titanic-man James Cameron.

The film continues to show that it’s the product of the changing times with a sustained game-like feel throughout. Aside from the abstract plot, which is said to allude to mankind’s squandering of the Earth’s resources, the characterisation and style of the action is very much straight from the next-gen gaming era.

So far things are looking very promising, with a decent plot backing up the grandiose claims about technology and the revolutionising of the industry in general. With someone as experienced as Cameron at the wheel, things were never going to wander miles of track, but the trick will be letting people see past the gimmick of 3D to the film underneath. You almost feel as if you’d have to watch it in 2D as well as 3D to appreciate the difference.

It’s with proverbial fingers crossed then that we eagerly await the film’s full release on 18th December.

 

By James Parry