Wow. Grossly disappointed in the just hit “Avatar” trailer from James Cameron. The beginning starts off normal enough, a live-action sci-fi with some impressive shots of a jungle-like world. Sam Worthington, as many of us know, is crippled and then apparently becomes conjoined with his Na’vi avatar host and then all hell breaks loose.
However, if you were expecting — like we were — realistic looking creatures in the vein of the tangible and frightening monsters in Cameron’s “Aliens,” forget it. These things — and the second half of the trailer — look like something out of a PS2 game and are not far off from that silly Elvin look in the Final Fantasy games. The second half basically turns into one of those mid-game sections of a video game and completely deflates us. This is supposed to be the game changer this year? Maybe it does look astonishing in 3D and on the big screen, but it practically looks comical in this Internet-trailer form and something akin to “Beowulf,” i.e., something we would normally not bother with. We suppose because it’s Cameron, we will have to at least investigate, but let the record show: we were semi-excited, but now any kind of potential chub we had has gone limp. Oh yeah, this trailer is in French, but not like it makes any difference as dialogue surely won’t matter. Here’s the synopsis.
Avatar takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, Avatar delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story
“Avatar” day hits tomorrow and we suppose one of us will go see the footage [ed. but does it have to be me?]. The film itself doesn’t hit theaters until December 18. Is this really the picture we’re all supposed to be impressed by? The creatures look painfully silly — like a Saturday Morning Kids Cartoon in mo-cap — and it feels sub-Zemeckis overall (and lord he’s the worst these days). Man, even the CGI-d monsters in “Lord Of The Rings” looked 10x more believable than this. Technology is regressing? A wise reader says the action footage looks akin too — oh lord, so right — the action sequences in the “Star Wars” prequels. Yikes. Has this one jumped the shark before it’s even begun?
You can also watch the trailer in the size and format of your choosing over at Apple.