Of Avatar and Movie Theaters

If you haven't seen the movie Avatar, I might mention things that could be considered spoilers. I'm not going to give away the plot or the ending or anything, but I do talk about stuff from the film. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Last weekend we went and saw Avatar. We saw it in 2D. Some people have looked down on us because of that, but that doesn't bother me. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, the special effects, and the story. Teresa did too, so it was good all around. We had our reasons for seeing it in the boring mundane way we've been watching movies all of our lives. Teresa was concerned that she would get a headache. I was concerned that 3D ticket prices were 150% higher than normal prices. In the end, I'm happy we made the decision we did. We may decide that we want to go back and see it in 3D eventually, and if it gives us headaches, we at least don't have to be worried about closing our eyes and missing some of the story or something.

We went to a new movie theater. We don't go to the movies that often, but up until now we'd been going to a theater near the mall in Asheville. It's an older theater I think, with just the regular seating that is on a ramp from the front to the back of the theater. On our trip back from South Carolina for Christmas we passed through Hendersonville on I-26 which is just south of Asheville. They have a large theater there called the Regal Biltmore Cinema 15. We decided that would be where we saw Avatar and that's what we did. This place was very big, very nice, and had very large screens and stadium style seating. In fact, the place is so nice that their small popcorn costs a whole six dollars. I didn't bother to see what the large cost. We used a Fandango gift card to get the tickets (thanks mom!) and when we got there, we saw there was a Coldstone ice cream place in the same place the theater was. So we're determined to go back for a movie and for ice cream when the weather gets warmer.

I liked Avatar because the world was amazing, and the story was easy to follow. We watched Transformers 2 at home the other night, and after a while I gave up trying to follow the plot and just tried to enjoy the robot battles. I have a feeling that's what the writers and director did too. Haha, I know, Transformers was out like a bazillion years ago and I'm behind the times. But you should already know that because I said we watched Avatar in 2D.

Right, back to the more recent movie. It was great. The crazy cool world of Pandora where everything has an outlet for you to plug your hair into. Animals who you can share a brain with. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where they brought an imaginary world to life as well as they did in this movie. Lord of the Rings is close, but this was slightly different because it was not from a book. In fact, it's so real to some people, that it causes them to be depressed because they realize they can never actually go there. If you don't believe me, check out this article from CNN that a friend on Facebook shared with me.

As I said before, the story was very easy to follow. I've heard some say that the simple story has played a part in how this movie has appealed so well to a world wide audience. I've also heard that the plot of this movie is eerily similar to the plot of Disney's Pocahontas. Granted, Disney's story isn't necessarily original either. I saw this on Failblog. I got a chuckle out of it.


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One thing about the movie that had me wondering a little bit was why the only human presences on Pandora were a money hungry corporation, and a bunch of scientists. I feel like there should have been some form of political organization there doing more diplomatic work. We didn't get a whole lot of background on what the state of Earth is in 2154. At one point they mention that it's devoid of life or something due to the ravages of the human race, but it wasn't really explained if anyone was still living there, or if humans were just spread out across the universe now. Teresa and I are also trying to figure out the timeline of things. How long had it been between the time that the main character's brother had died and when he got to Pandora? He had been in cryo for over five years just to get there, so have they been waiting for someone to pilot his avatar for over five years? And if that's the case, why are they in such a hurry to bulldoze the planet once he does get there? Seems like something doesn't line up.

Maybe if I see it in 3D, I'll get it.