torture

Rating: 4/10 (22 December 2009)

I was looking forward to a big budget 3D film. I thought Cameron could deliver. I was wrong and very disappointed. This film demonstrates very clearly that Cameron has lost his ability to make a watchable film. The whole thing meanders along at a snails pace, interspersed with gratuitous chase scenes. Aliens The Directors Cut gave me some idea of what Cameron would be like without an editor that enjoys cinema...Avatar looks like it's skipped straight to the directors cut.
The graphics are derivative. The stereoscopic direction is contrived and technically flawed. Lots of quick camera movements that, given the frame rate of the projectors, just serves to disorientate the audience. The story is predictable, patronising and pointless. The characters are 1 dimensional. I'm not ageist, but I really think a film with this much potential scope should have been given to someone much younger with more enthusiasm and inventiveness. This is tired, formulaic rubbish....but in badly done 3D.
It's so awful, you really shouldn't bother watching it. Once again the IMDb rating has surprised me, and I'm getting more and more suspicious about their validity. 8.9 out of 10 at the moment....that really doesn't match the experience I had - not on any level. The muttering of the audience at the showing I attended confirmed this wasn't a personal taste thing. It's a 3 hour long ordeal that leaves you ripped off with a blinding headache.