The Two-Minute Verdict
Avatar Trailer #2: The Three-and-a-Half-Minute Verdict
Before its full trailer was released just this week, James Cameron’s Avatar had three notable preludes: its debut footage at Comic-Con, an online teaser trailer in August, and, of course, the big chunk of screen time from Avatar Day. Each of those clips was met by…well, let’s say less-than-universal acclaim. That said, the newest, final Avatar trailer is probably its best yet.
It’s three-and-a-half minutes long (shade of When in Rome!) but it saves the big blue Na’Vi in the room until the ninety-second mark. Prior to that, the trailer finally spells out the film’s plot and backstory, which had been missing to an almost crippling degree in its ad campaign until now. I’m still not completely convinced by the Na’Vi, and I’m not eagerly anticipating airless scenes of CG monsters whomping on each other (the climax of The Incredible Hulk kind of cured me of that), but at least this trailer seems to be touting the film effectively. For years, we’ve been told that we’re compelled to go watch Avatar, that it will reinvent our whole cinematic experience. This trailer simply asks us if we want to watch a good movie.
VERDICT: Sold
More interviews
- One Life to Live's Brett Claywell: 'We Told a Story in a World Where Most People Are Afraid to Tell It'
- Michael Shannon on The Runaways, Kristen Stewart's Sophistication, and Getting Picked Up By James Franco
- Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart: The Movieline Interview
- Emilie de Ravin on Remember Me and the Learning Curve of Lost
- Bong Joon-ho: The Movieline Interview
Lost
American Idol
Oscars
Lists
Obsessive compulsive: all topics, one link!
Lost American Idol Oscars Lists
Past Virtual Newsstands
More in TVLine
- Top Chef Alum Marcel Vigneron Makes Quantum Leap to Syfy, For Some Reason
- What's On: Doffing Scrubs
- Coco Continues Plan For World Domination with Documentary Project
- American Idol Recap: Who Had the Best Stones?
- Late Night Highlights: Betty White Showers, Hugh Jackman Croons Mandarin, and ConanGate Revisited
About | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Information | mail.com | Hollywood Life | Deadline Hollywood
Copyright © 2009 Movieline LLC All rights reserved.
Posted 29 Oct 2009, 1:09 PM
I loved the part where Sigourney gets pissed: "Bad call? These people are dead, Giovanni Ribisi! Don't you have any idea what you've done here?! Well, I'm gonna make sure that they nail you right to the wall for this! You're not gonna sleaze your way out of this one! Right to the wall!"
Posted 29 Oct 2009, 2:05 PM
The more I see of the the Na'Vi, the more I realize we're still deep in Uncanny Valley.
Posted 29 Oct 2009, 3:22 PM
Is there a single moment in that trailer we haven't already seen in a dozen other (now-aging) franchise blockbusters?
For all the talk of Cameron's long hiatus and his digital brave new world, this one really feels like stale action-movie leftovers reheated with a sprinkle of turquoise-3D-CGI marketing nonsense.
Jim. Baby. The 1990s just called. They want all their cliches back.
Posted 29 Oct 2009, 4:57 PM
Nobody wants this movie to be awesome more than me, but it looks like it's on an express elevator to Hell...going down.
Posted 29 Oct 2009, 8:17 PM
I don't care if the story is clichéd, recycled, extraneous or otherwise. It is going to be the most stunning 3D eye candy to date, and that's why I'm going to see it. If I want substance, I'll read some Melville.
Posted 02 Nov 2009, 3:04 PM
looks way to awkward, like district 9. although, it looks like its gonna have some awesome action scenes.. so i'll watch it.
Posted 11 Nov 2009, 10:06 PM
it looks like the visual effects used for Avatar are pretty much untouchable