Avatar

(It has been six full days since I saw this movie and you have no idea how impatiently I have been waiting to gush about it to you all. Here goes...)

Watching the movie is like being swept by a mighty river of creative genius to a mind-boggling ocean - the breath-takingly beautiful world of the Pandora.

From what starts out as a usual sci-fi movie visual, the journey progresses to a surreal animated world. And from there, within minutes, you forget that you are watching animated characters. The land of the Pandora comes out (literally, thanks to 3D technology) at you in all it's multihued wonders. The meticulously crafted alien flora and fauna, replete with delicious colours, are complete with not just their well-defined body structures, but a carefully scripted language and a fully thought-through 'culture' and life-style. My personal favourite were the touch-me-not plants.

The exquisite graphics is further enhanced by the 3d technology (Here, I must implore you all to please see the 3D version before you choose to collect a 2D DVD for your personal collection). The exhilarating heights of the hanging mountains, the jumping off the cliff edges and heady flights of the Ikrans, walking amidst the branches of the beautifully illuminated Tree of Souls and the hovering around of the spine-tingling silky white-threaded flying objects – the list is endless – each take your breath away!

Only a James Cameron, who my brother and I figured, does not know how to fail, could create a make-believe world that one can very easily believe in. The narration seamlessly flows from the human camp to the alien wonderland and the earthlings and Na’vis interact with minimal effort. I got so lost in this world that, towards the end of the movie, I actually double-checked with my brother if these were animated creatures we were looking at.

The only glitch, that I found (this may well be limited to my limited comprehension level) was the initial passage of Jake Sully to his Na’vi avatar seemed left much to the imagination of the audience. It took two to three to and fro journeys to clarify how exactly the humans are moving in and out of their avatars. Yet the first time Jake visits Pandora left a yet-unanswered question of how did his Na’vi body reach Pandora from the lab of the human settlement. Clarification from any of you would be welcome.

Finally, as my brother aptly quipped “Avatar is not a movie - it's an experience ! ". Don't miss it!