Mark said:
^ The 3rd was still better then the god-awful 2nd one "The Lost World" where it went all typical Hollywood and let the TRex loose in the city.... YAWN!
But, no I think it is a very bad idea. Jurassic Park was epic, just leave it alone!!!!!!!
I really like Lost World, but always shut it off before the end :lol:
I enjoy the Dino round up, the bit with the Rex and the trailer is superb, when she falls and you think she's going out! Stunning at the cinema.
Also loved the bit with the raptors coming through the grass, brilliant.
Oddly, most of the film though are the bits from the original book that Spielberg didn't put into the first film. The T-Rex chasing them and getting them in the waterfall, the raptors on the roof in the compound are both right from the original novel.
The third film then also had the beach section from the first book and aviary. So you get the whole of the first book if you watch all three films.
The third was poor compared to the first (the second was okay compared to the first, until the Japanese monster movie ending which is your queue to switch it off), but they're still pretty good films overall. I do love monster movies though, and dinosaurs, and they were all great at the cinema (I saw the original about five times at the cinema I think :lol: ).
Anyway, I went to see....
AVATAR yesterday in 3D at Star City. What can I say? That 3D Alice trailer was full of win!
Erm the actual film. Best kids film for the last five years.
Actually, Up was... And maybe one of the Harry Potters.
It was still an excellent kids film though. Those funny blue cartoon people, but it was bit violent at times. Still, good stuff. 9/10.
Real review? Well, that was pretty much my impression to be honest. I felt like I spent two and half hours having my intelligence insulted if it was anything OTHER than a kid's film. The most clichéd, obvious, paint by numbers plot I've ever seen. Acting was fine, people managed to remain well within their stereotypes the whole way through. Congratulations to "shouting general", "scientist who doesn't like people", "corporate wimp obsessed with making the cut", "envious scientist who becomes warrior" and "thick grunt whose humanity and gut overcome it all".
Okay, so the film isn't actually a good film, so what is it?
It's a no brainer action flick. That's fine, no brainer action flicks are good fun. It's also the most fantastic tech demo ever.
I'm still not convinced by CG animals (and humanoids). Forget about how aggravating the whole "well, it's like a horse, but to make it alien, we'll give it six legs instead of four - who clever are we?" thing was. Movement was good (as long as you related it to the movement of things we see every day here on earth). However, the textures, skins, folds, everything just don't like quite right. They're some of the best I've seen, but the fauna in the film when up close still looks CG.
The world though? WOW! Distance shots and fast moving action scenes are utterly stunning. Integration between live action and CG too is seamless and brilliant. You do get taken in, and quite often disbelief is utterly suspended as you believe the whole of Pandora is actually a real place (or real sets :lol: ).
So technically, it ranges from very good, to "OMFG!" The tree scene and the end battle are particularly spectacular and utterly believable.
3D is the best I've seen so far. Almost flawless, just a couple of sections where I found it blurred and jagged a little (where your eyes get out of synch with the 3D a little). It did actually really add a lot to the film.
So, the film is exciting, occasionally fun and well made - stunningly made in fact. It's also was a bland plot, poor stereotypical characters and is just frustratingly "gah!". Everything is so Earth-like. Everything is so "native American being killed by the white guy". It's all so insulting!
So, I just look at it in the same way I would a Disney or Dreamworks kid's film. It works for me as I think it is, in essence, a kid's film. As such, it gets a jolly decent 9/10. As an adult's film? I'll give it 8/10 this year, 7/10 next year as the tech is surpassed/used better. Then diminishing returns each year until it hits a 5/10
