What will be the ‘Avatar’ of Chandler’s generation?

Today I partook in our nation’s new favorite pastime, seeing the movie Avatar. I was pretty excited to see this movie. Actually I was just excited to get out of the house. I had heard a lot of good things about James Cameron’s latest epic, mostly from characters on Fox TV shows. The movie looked to be amazing but I was feeling uncharacteristically cynical about the whole 3D experience. However, I went into this movie with an open mind.

After giving it some thought I give the movie an ‘A’ and the 3D an ‘eh+’. As usual James Cameron has done a great job telling a story that is worth every dime he spent on it. Great characters (both good and bad), great visuals, and great imagination.

Then there’s the 3D element of Avatar. Prior to this my only experience with 3D was a Muppets movie at the MGM studios theme park. There were meatballs and chickens flying at our heads constantly. Fun…but not quite what I’m looking for in an epic film like Avatar. I’m pleased to say that not one spear or bullet wizzed by our heads the entire movie. I heard someone describe the 3D in Avatar as immersive 3D. It made you feel like you were sitting in on the conversation or actually walking through the forest of Pandora. I appreciated the subtlety with which Mr. Cameron utilized this technology.

I left the theater thinking that maybe this really is the future of cinema. But then I wondered, “why?” Did this new feature really serve the story? Was there anything that 3D did for this movie that seeing it in plain old 2D would have missed? Most of the time I was more distracted by the extra visual dimension than anything else.

The 3D did not in any way help move the story along or convey the message more effectively. But it did of course enhance the viewing pleasure for the audience. I can remember when surround sound was new and a big deal in movie theaters. Before the previews started there was a massive display of the Dolby Surround Sound speaker system that just about blasted you out of your seat. It didn’t help the film maker in his quest to make a more compelling film, but it was cool. At first we were a little distracted by it as we heard gun shots coming from our right and then explosions from our left. But now if a movie theater doesn’t have surround sound it just seems out of place.

I’m sure there were similar feelings when movies first started to be made in color or even when they first featured sound. So maybe I’ll get so used to this 3D experience that watching a flick in a measly two dimensions will seem like an incomplete experience.

And that makes me wonder. What will be the Avatar of my child’s generation? What new technology will come out that will take story telling to the next level? Will we someday have holographic theaters where instead of a screen everyone will sit in a dark room together and literally be sitting in the middle of the movie? (I trademark that concept)

I don’t know what is next and by the looks of things I might not get back out to the movies until it’s here.