Here’s the non-spoiler part. I’ll put the (kind of) spoilers under the fold, and add some extra space for those using an RSS reader.

1. If you see Avatar, you have to see it in a movie theater, the best one in your area. (I saw it in an IMAX-3D theater.)

2. I’d strongly consider seeing Avatar.

I don’t want to hype the movie too much. It have several flaws, arguably sizable flaws. But it’s the most immersive movie I’ve seen in a long time, one with a lot of “wow” moments. Also, I understand now why James Cameron had to wait for special effects technology to advance to this point before he could make the movie. More on that under the fold.

*

*

*

*

When I was in college in the mid 1990s, Netscape Navigator was the browser of choice and many web pages had gray backgrounds and “Under Construction” signs. But you could sense something exciting was happening, even if you couldn’t see the direction it would take.

In 1999, Avatar’s distant cousin The Matrix came out. One of the reason The Matrix is a great movie is because it captured both the excitement and wariness I think people had subconsciously about the new virtual world unfolding before their eyes. The Matrix is about us first becoming aware that we live in dual worlds, then exerting some control over the new virtual world, and finally the promise of mastery. (Totally sorry if I just spoiled The Matrix for you.)

If The Matrix keeps the virtual world at an uneasy distance, Avatar fully embraces it. In The Matrix, you enter the virtual world by jamming a plug in the back of your head. The transition is harsh and distinct. In Avatar, you lay in an enclosed bed and close your eyes.

In The Matrix, you mostly look the same in both worlds. One’s identity is enhanced but not fundamentally challenged. It’s always clear where the real you is, on the ship. In Avatar, the Na’vi the main character is connected to has a real physical presence. And the more time he spends as a Na’vi, the more he becomes one mentally, challenging the main character’s identity by the end in the most fundamental way (I don’t want to spoil it in case you haven’t seen it yet).

In fact, it is this blurring of the real and virtual worlds to the point of merger that Avatar is really about, and it’s why James Cameron couldn’t make this movie ten years ago. One, the technology didn’t exist at the time to blur the worlds convincingly. One example: I kept marveling at the facial expressions in this movie. It’s the first time I’ve seen them truly captured, and not cleverly approximated. The technique they used is going to make every CG facial expression created before it look fake. It’s that good.

The flying beasts soaring by the “real” mountains look equally natural. The aircraft are modern but not so futuristic to look different from the world we know. The merger of real and virtual is seamless, and that’s the point. The technology used to make the movie is essential to understanding the movie’s theme. That’s why it’s important to see it in a theater and on the best screen possible.  To get this movie you have to become immersed in it, and it’s very hard to recreate that experience at home, no matter how nice your movie-viewing setup.

The second reason this movie couldn’t exist ten years ago is societal. The idea of a digital self was new then. What made The Matrix the perfect movie for that time, a movie introducing us to the notion of a virtual self, would have made Avatar too much of a stretch. No one was playing World of Warcraft characters for 40 hours a week, the Sims didn’t exist, and no one was making Mii avatars on their Wiis.  It’s not that we are anywhere close to becoming 12-foot Na’vi, but stepping stones in the past several years (Facebook accounts, login names, online profiles, etc.) have developed our digital selves to the point where our minds are now open to the idea that today’s primitive avatars could become something much more different and real.

So while some of the dialogue is horrible, and the movie’s big climatic battle isn’t as interesting as what came before it, in some ways that’s besides the point. Like The Matrix, the point of Avatar is to show us a world that may be far away, but one that we are ready to take a peek at today.