Avatar: This One Goes to 11

You have heard all the hype: here is Falcon and Dove’s spoiler-free preview/review of AVATAR. Simply put, it is the best film of the 21st Century. It is performance driven, although the world of Pandora is magnificent, reminds Falcon of Roger Dean artwork from all those YES albums over the decades. The world is rainforest, indigenous (including the diverse cast, including Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, and Tsalagi actor, Wes Studi, who played Geronimo in a film of the same name back in the 1990’s), gorgeous. There is so much beauty in this film, you may weep just from its images, but there is so much more that may moisten your eyes in this film, especially if you look at the edges, and pay attention to some of the subtle symbols in every frame.

We didn’t catch a single technical error, which is impressive. We usually see some piece of film with the image spliced backwards, some continuity problem, some special effect that just didn’t work, or some boom in a shot. Not here. Not anywhere on the first view, and we saw it in 3-D IMAX.

The acting is strong, and in a special effects laden film, that may surprise some. The secret is in the three layers that bring authentic action to the forefront: visual effects with motion capture and rotoscoping, along with performance capture technology. If you haven’t heard of third option, that is because James Cameron pushed the special effects teams to the limit, and created a new way of getting the effects in front of the director in real time while capturing the performance of the actors. It is nothing short of incredible, and will change filmmaking. For those of you who missed the beginning of the STAR WARS dynasty, this is your moment-a new dawn has emerged. Celebrate.

You won’t want to miss anything, so get your munchies before the film starts.

There is a lot we could say about the film’s content, but it would give too much away. It is a film nearly everyone can enjoy, although very young children (under 4) may not like the length. There is action, drama, lots of tense moments, and some very thoughtful ones.
‘Nuff said. Simply put, see this film. Everyone else will.

Peace,
Falcon and Dove