Amid 14 years of hype, James Cameron's highly anticipated, action-adventure "Avatar" prepares for the big screen this Friday, December 18th. Fans and critics are anxiously awaiting to be blown away by, industry claimed, revolutionary film-making techniques, developed specifically for this blockbuster. Although, with all the hype that has been pouring forth through advanced 14-minute screenings, to TV promotions and Internet feeds, people are wondering if an advanced CGI epic worth an estimated $230 million and 14 years of development will live up to everyone expectations.
I, for one, have my own curiosities about the upcoming film, especially with the amount of CGI being constantly bombarded on TV and Internet by an intense advertising and marketing plan. Normally, studios build hype by revealing little to no footage of a film and simply rely on the names attached to the production to pull in crowds of moviegoers. And with a cast featuring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi and Michelle Rodriguez being matched with legendary director James Cameron, you'd think this be enough. Not to mention all the work and time Cameron has put into this film, developing new technologies and techniques over the past 14 years to bring his futuristic sci-fi to life. Yet for some reason, the studio and marketing plan has seemed to be on the defense trying to quell skeptics and critics since a release date was issued. On August 21, 2009, Cameron showed a free-of-charge, 16 minute clip to 68,000 fans who managed to grab tickets from 20th Century Fox's online site. Reviews seemed to be slightly more positive than negative, taking into account the limited time frame focused more on visuals with only hints of storyline elements hoping this would draw audience members back to the theater when the full film was released.
Second, when the 3 minute theatrical trailer premiered, most critics were lost due to the scarce dialogue and colorful settings. Immediately, many hopefuls were confused since the claim of advanced CGI looked nothing more impressive than "Transformers 2" which had just been released.
Third, 20th Century Fox released a new trailer, which clocked in at 3:35 seconds and pretty much gave the entire storyline of the film but the result of the final battle. In the preview, we meet Jake Sully (Worthington) a paraplegic war veteran who is brought to the planet Pandora to participate in a program designed to help him walk again. The program introduces him to his avatar, a creature whose genetics are half human and half Na'vi, a sentient humanoid race who inhabit Pandora and reside in a region rich in a new mineral deposit worth billions. As Jake is sent in to gain the Na'vi's trust and help in a peaceful relocation program, he beings to befriend the race and in time finds himself in the middle of an escalating conflict between the two sides. Que epic battle footage.
All of this is well shown in the trailer, so well in fact I don't know if I really need to see if the evil, war-moggering general is ever killed or if Jake's Na'vi love interest makes it through the final battle.
Finally, the latest commercials seem to only ride on the coattails of director James Cameron, as reminders of his past thrill-rides flash amidst scenes of chaos from Avatar. While normally this does work, I feel it tries to say, "hey, were not gonna say if Avatar is good or bad, but bank on the fact his other movies weren't bad." And I can only support this since I haven't seen any critic reactions yet, since there don't seem to be advanced screenings to media outlets even a week before the film's release.
The one thing I can say to squash negative criticisms is that most people said they never see "Titanic" since "they knew how it would end, with the boat sinking." Yet once it premiered, the amazing story drove the film to box office greatness, becoming one of the highest grossing films of all time. I can only hope that after all the visuals, all the distracting CGI and awkward, bi-racial, romantic tension, it is the story which makes people want to see this movie.
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