Literally Breathtaking!

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2009)

Saw Avatar today at the IMAX (I think Dubai only has one...) in 3D.
It was interesting that afterwards, we went for dinner and both the wife and I sat there in total silence while we ate and once we had finished we both said the same thing.
That planet, those people and those events happened! We've just lived through it.
It is possibly the most immersive film I've ever seen. It is literally breathtaking.
The plot is the weakest part - it has been done before with Dancing with Wolves and a number of other films - but I realised early on that it only adds to the experience. You can use the part of your brain that would normally be used to work out the twists and turns of a thriller and devote 100% to simply living in that world with those characters and experiencing what is going on.
There isn't a huge amount of interaction between the CGI bods and the 'real' world but when there is, it is completely seamless - there's a bit right at the end where it does happen and it is simply 'real' and full of emotion.
James Cameron is a director that I rate up there with Ridley Scott - they don't make bad films. OK, some of them may not be masterpieces but I'm yet to see a bad one from either of them. Titanic, while it may be a bit soppy, is still a brilliant piece of cinema and this is how Avatar is.
I usually walk out of the cinema with a view that it was a good/OK/bad film etc... This, and this will sound strange, this made feel privileged to be allowed into their world, I found it that involving. When I think of the film now, sat at home, it's more like my own memories rather than a snapshot of a certain scene.
I will be going to see it again on Thursday and I'm looking forward to spending even more time looking around and losing myself for a few hours.
9.5/10