Avatar - iMax Cinema, London By Michelle Dee

I'd seen the clips and a brief 'making of' documentary on Film 2010 but nothing prepared me for the complete immersion into James Cameron's spectacular vision. I wasn't sure how I'd get on with the whole 3D thing, I worried it wouldn't work for me; how wrong was I. London's iMax cinema on the south bank is huge and was apparently sold out that day although there were a number of vacant seats around ours. Who would pay up to fifteen pounds a ticket and not turn up, I've no idea.

I liked the experience immensely. I thought how I'd like to see in 3D all the time; of course we do already but somehow it's become obsolete. I wondered how other epic films such as Gladiator and Blade Runner would look given the 3D treatment. I describe the feeling as like a visual version of having hairs standing up on the back of your neck when you hear a particular tune; it's kind of like that but for your eyes and for a sustained period. I'm not ashamed to say that once or twice there was a tear clouding my super-enhanced vision as the emotive struggle between the Na'vi and the humans played out.

Yes the film has a very strong anti-capitalist message; money is the root of all evil, for 'unobtainium', think oil. The destruction wrought by the humans is obviously rooted in anti-Americanism and more than one thinly veiled reference to the Iraq invasion, the war on terror, creeps into the script. As for the Na'vi, they carry a strong ecological message about awareness of and being connected to, your environment; respecting life not destroying all in your path for monetary gain and power. Some reviewers have dismissed the Na'vi as tree huggers but I think that is slightly misplaced and undeserved.

Cameron is quite right, we as a human race are destroying our planet, only last week I learned how the wanton destruction of rainforests in Sri Lanka, the home of our close cousins the Orangutan, is being carried out by illegal Palm Oil farmers.

Without getting into the climate change/global warming debate, you can find many instances where we have in the past and continue to destroy the environment and fuel our ever growing consumption of the world's resources. Avatar seeks a balance between the myriad of life forms and we'd do well to heed something of its message. Avatar isn't perfect, it is pockmarked with clichés, stereotypes and predictability. It borrows heavily from other films, but on the surface it does seem to represent something of a turning point in the cinematic experience.

The 3D works really well, surprisingly more so with scenes in more compact spaces rather than the sprawling vistas of Pandora.

The creation of fantastical flora and fauna on the verdant moon is stunning, the action sequences thrilling, the ten foot tall blue beings, reminiscent of doe-eyed Manga creations and the sci-fi aliens Greys. Something else I was reminded of whilst watching the film was the recent discussion about people having dual personalities one for interaction online and another for the real world. This idea of being able to be something and someone else is taken to the nth degree in Avatar.

The idea for us to plug in permanently and opt out of real life, although inviting at first, is fraught with danger including the small matter of the end of society as we know it. This grave warning didn't stop me from Avatering my Facebook picture however. Cameron's epic Avatar can be seen as a solid platform for the world of 3D cinematography, you watch the film and think, if they can do this now what will there be in years to come? 3D home cinemas, more than likely, 3D total immersive game experiences almost definitely, and probably a whole lot more that we can't possibly imagine right now.

Cameron is said to be working on a sequel to Avatar which will no doubt cost millions of dollars as this one did which kind of flies in the face of the anti-capitalist theme but hey, who am I to stand in the way of a good story \u2026 if it is a good story. www.avatarmovie.com

thisisUll.com Featured Writer Michelle Dee
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