Avatar (2009)

Enter the World.

Ground-breaking motion capture animation, creating a totally believable alien world with characters that seem to live and breathe, with full emotional range.

Plot and characters somewhat less special. That said, I couldn't help falling in love with the lead female character played by Zoe Saldana.

The theme of avatars is interesting. Cinema-goers often identify with - or perhaps are normally led to identify with - the protagonists in films, especially perhaps when they are movie stars. In effect, without any special technology, the lead characters function as our avatars. This is mirrored by the plot-line in Cameron's film, doubling the use of avatars. The lead character, who is our virtual avatar in the world of the film, is himself using an avatar.

3D or not 3D? This is the best use of 3D I have seen so far. Even so, do we really need 3D? Modern man is long used to interpreting all kinds of two dimensional images - photos, paintings - as having three dimensions. We learn to do this from infancy, and readily do this with new images, particularly moving images. So, if we already are already adept at interpreting two dimensional images as having three dimensions, using our mental powers, do we really need this to be done for us by technology?

What destroys filmic illusion for me is poor film-making - poor plotting and characterisation, bad acting - and that operates in both two and three dimensions. Create a compelling storyline and believable characters that draw me into their world and I don't need the special effect of 3D.

• Rating: Full price
• When seen: 20 Dec 2009
• Where seen: Cinema
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Amendments: Added actor tags: "Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel David Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver". Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.