Following the official online release of yesterday’s trailer, today at long last comes a first proper glimpse at James Cameron’s futuristic fantasy epic. Today is Avatar day, and LWLies got an exclusive seat at the BFI IMAX this morning for the world premiere of specially compiled footage from the film. As you can imagine our appetites were well and truly whet with anticipation. So has the wait been worth it?
Thrown into complete unknown, the multi-layered world of Avatar is nothing I could have prepared for. The action sequences are astonishing (if a little disorientating at first) and the cinescapes utterly breathtaking. By the looks of it Cameron has got it spectacularly right. The sprawling landscapes are dense and vibrant, but there seems to be a rich story woven into this vast tropical tapestry. For all the innovative special effects on show a film of such grandiose cannot survive without some sort of narrative, and from this sneak peek Avatar seems remarkably closer to home than I initially presumed.
Our protagonist, a wheelchair-bound marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is given a new lease of life after being transported to Pandora, a distant forest-soaked moon; where he takes host of an alien body. Here we see his first encounter with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a native Na’vi warrioress who fits the bill as Sully’s extraterrestrial love interest. So there is some heart here, which could prove a vital narrative element if the film is to transcend a fanboy audience.
There is certainly plenty to get your juices flowing then, but let’s not forget in the end it is just a film. So far much of the attention has been on the immense budget – anywhere between $250 and $300 million is the ballpark – but Cameron and co have sensibly kept exact details closeted. It would be easy to get carried away, of course, but it is refreshing to see a filmmaker with the clout of Cameron retain an air of modesty. In any case, it will be interesting to see how the marketing campaign continues after today.
While it may look spectacular, however, I couldn’t help feel disenchanted by the CGI overload. Such saturation transports you to another world, but once there, there is no escape. The main problem, however, seems to be that it looks less like a film (in a traditional sense) and more like well polished video game, albeit a bollock-bustingly spectacular one. Ultimately it might not be to everyone’s taste, but there is no question Avatar is hugely significant; it’s revolutionary new motion capture “fusion camera” system, which Cameron and his crew invented, is already being prophesied to pioneer a new era of digital cinema.
When it hits cinemas this winter there will be no avoiding Avatar, but it is difficult to predict how the film will fare. After all it is Cameron’s first fictional film since 1997’s Titanic, the concept is entirely original and therefore unfamiliar, and it is very, very geeky. Whatever the anticipatory buzz, Avatar is unlikely to reach the wearying heights of The Dark Knight, though, and in that respect it is hard to see how Cameron and 20th Century Fox can possibly make a financial return.
Regardless of how audiences respond come December 18, it is unlikely this sci-fi extravaganza will be forgotten in a hurry. From the looks of things the 3D revolution starts here and from now on it’s all eyes on Avatar.
