Avatar, the movie

Staying awake to chase a dream,
Tasting the air you're breathing in,
I know i won't forget a thing...

-Falling Away With You, Muse


You know all that hype about 'Avatar' - how it's the most visually stunning film ever made, how it changed the world...... It's all true.

Yes, it happened last year. But I just have to write about it.

It's not just a film about visual pyrotechnics (yes, I googled that) and Hollywood effects and thrills... It's got depth. Firstly, visual depth- If one buys the DVD and pauses on single screen shots randomly throughout the movie, I believe you would potentially have hundreds of brilliant computer 'screensavers'. The detail is stunning. Which is why watching it twice is still not enough. There is so much visual richness to absorb every single time.


Then there are the characters. As this is not a full review, I won't dwell on the other characters but will feature just one- Neytiri, princess of the Omaticaya clan and Jake Sulley's 'mate'.

What a woman- Filial and fiercely loyal to family. A fighter. A survivor. And very much in tune with her emotions and her surroundings.
What I love about this character is her 'realness'. Yes, she gets emotional - like all women do. But she overcomes this with fearless luster!-She possesses the inner strength to love and live and fly like the wind- that a lot of us are searching for...
Plus, she kicks ass.


The best thing about Avatar though, is Pandora. And the best thing about the movie is the feeling of being transported in to this world. Cameron makes it so damn beautiful -it's like taking a drug and being on a high, temporarily. Strawberry Fields Forever kinda thing.
I couldn't help but feel..."I've seen this all before....In a dream." It re-visited the kind of feelings I had as a kid wondering through my dad's rose bushes in my garden. Or going snorkeling for the very first time.

But the dream gets better- it doesn't stop at glowing trees and floating mountains. We fly! We fly on big colourful birds that are only meant for us, and us alone. There is so much emotional play and symbolism in this movie, that many would overlook. Flying on a big red firey bird that will only answer to you, and you alone... joining a 'plug' from your head that connects you solely to your animal of choice and to the roots of the trees and your surroundings. Falling..... but knowing how to fall gracefully and having the insight on how to break your fall.
And every single bit of these little lessons....are executed to visual perfection.

It's a stroke of genius, this movie. The only thing I felt could have been somewhat improved is the script and certain bits of conversation which could have been a bit more poetic, but then again, that's just me being petty.

Some favourite scenes:



If you haven't watched it. Please do. 3D is good. But 2D did it for me too.
Other films that stood out for me in 2009 - District 9, Star Trek, Inglorious Bastards.
I cringed during - Transformers 2, Twilight-New Moon,