John Lindal’s Blog

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The game has changed.

I was very skeptical when I read that James Cameron was out to out-Lucas George Lucas. I don’t believe it’s possible, but only because every game changing quantum leap up has the same general effect of blowing the public’s collective mind. But there is no question that Avatar has now changed the game in exactly the same way that Star Wars did thirty years ago. Audiences will not put up with 2D summer blockbusters much longer.

The story is certainly not as sweeping in scope as Star Wars, but Cameron deserves credit for at least thinking up an entire continent instead of only a few square miles of jungle. The characters were all stereotypes, and they died in the standard order, but they were still well done and served the purpose of making as deep an emotional impact as possible. As far as I can tell, that was what Cameron wanted: amplify the impact of watching full 3D by giving the audience characters to whom they can readily respond.