I did not see it in 2D to compare however.  And I am not sure why anyone one would see it in 2D when the experience is designed for 3D.  My 20 year old son and I took it in yesterday afternoon in a packed theater.   Creator/Director James Cameron is noted for taking big chances and at times coming up with big winners (Titanic being the last big winner).   Avatar is a big winner not only at the box office, but also in helping usher in a new genre.

I had heard that the story was not terrific.   For me I found it to be a classic story but well done.  Yes there were a few holes here and there but the visual feast and overall spectacle far outweighed any complaints about the story.   The virtual world created by Cameron was fascinating in both its concept and depiction.  The Avatars were incredibly real and for computer generated images I have never seen renderings that made me totally unaware that what I was watching was a virtual environment and not real live action manipulated or rotoscoped.   I admit that I actually felt Neytiri was kind of hot truth be told.  The entire experience was truly remarkable.  The score by James Horner was terrific as well (his work always is).  

The 3D aspect was cool and wearing the glasses (much better than the old cardboard blue and red glasses) was not a big deal and for much of the movie I was unaware I was even wearing them.  I will say that the 3D effects were pretty cool but I anticipated an even more immersive experience.  Probably my own fault yet I did walk out of the theater thinking that every movie from now on should be in 3D (nor was that the Cameron’s intent or mission).   

I recently read that by 2012 30% of the TV’s sold will be 3D enabled.   That’s a substantial prediction and number and I am not convinced the public will adopt 3D TV as quickly as the prognosticators are saying.  

Several 3D trailers were shown in advance of the feature and some of them reminded me of the older more hokey 3D effects like having a school piranha ‘swim’ by you sort of like a ride at Disney.   That was not cool and I won’t be in any rush to watch 3D movies that employ hackneyed 3D tricks.  But ‘Avatar’ is game changing (no pun intended).    And while both my son (who absolutely loved it) and I hope there won’t be a sequel what are the chances of that happening? 

A healthy and happy 2010 to all.     I am hoping for more comments on my blog for 2010 so please fire away!