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Review: Avatar 3D

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The hype for Avatar has been incredibly publicized. 3D has been around for the last several decades, but James Cameron wanted to do something bigger, better. Known for big summer blockbusters, Cameron wanted to push the realms of cinema into something unprecedented.

You know the story from the trailers, you know the director has been working on it for the better part of two decades. So the question is this the film that revolutionizes how people see movies?

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paralyzed former Marine joining the Avatar program after the death of his brother. He is uniquely positioned to join because he shares his brother's DNA, only Jake can control his avatar. With it, he can walk again and once he infiltrates the Na'vi and convinces them to move away from their land, Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) promises to get Jake's "real legs back". The Na'vi must be moved because their home is based on a very valuable deposit of Unobtanium.

3D films in the past have been notorious for breaking the fourth wall needlessly, but Avatar is full immersion 3D. At no moment do you look at the Na'vi and remember you are in a theatre. Some critics complain that the run-time is far too long, but the time invested in the scenes on Pandora pay off later. As Jake spends time on Pandora you feel as if you are emotionally invested in each and every one of the people and places.

Avatar is one of those moments in film that cannot be missed, this is an event bigger than the packs of crowds outside lining the streets for Lord of the Rings, or The Dark Knight, or any movie of this decade. This is the wonderment in cinema that has been missing for so long. The game-change that was supposed to keep moviegoers in cinemas could very well be 3D.

Cameron firmly establishes you into a new world filled with some of his old mainstays. There is no lack of strong female characters - something that has been lacking in pop culture for far too long. It wouldn't be a surprise to find out that Grace (Sigourney Weaver) is just Ripley in another form. Zoe Saldana's Neytiri is going to launch her career in a way that Star Trek didn't. Instead of playing the eye candy, she embodies a brave warrior that drives the story and humanizes Jake.

Welcome back James Cameron, we missed you.

***/****

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