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lagilmanDear Reader: if you have to ask me "is this the first book in the series" when the cover clearly states BOOK ONE? I'm just not going to respect you at all. And my first instinctive response (unsent) is going to be homagawd snarky. Just sayin'.
In other news, I have now seen Avatar, and so can post an actual Informed Opinion.
And my AIO is that this movie doesn't have a single uncliched or interesting thought in its pretty little head. And, for the most part, I'm okay with that.
The longer version is that I think this was 3/4 of a decent military SF movie with Extra! EyeCandy! in the form of the special effects (the world itself was stunning, absolutely stunning, if I do have a few quibbles about the biological evolution of the species), and then devolved into 1/4 of a really so bad it's insulting movie toward the end, where everyone's reduced to a cliche of an archetype, the language goes from gung-ho adventure to ... well, both the military guy and the liberal tree-hugger were offended on behalf of all the characters, for how they fell apart, and the ending...
*facepalm* Nobody thought the ending through at all. Because no matter how well you defeat the invading force once, if you have something the invaders want, badly? And you have only a primitive, if effective, surprise weapon on your side? They will come back and nuke you from orbit. Seriously.
[EtA: yes, I used to edit stuff like this for a living. It was my job to ask pointy-type ploty questions and demand a decent response -- or at least a convincing handwavium. And, while we're on the topic - unobtanium? Seriously? Seriously?]
But, despite the paint-by-numbers and the failure of biology, and the failure of military thought (I expected better of a Marine), the fact is that the 3D in this movie is light years ahead of anything I've seen before: it enhances the experience, rather than jarring you with the FX, adds depth without distraction, and didn't give me even the slightest hint of vertigo or headache, as previous attempts did without fail. I compared the movie later to dating a much-younger companion: "shhh, don't say anything. Don't ruin it. Just look pretty."
The opinions of our group were mixed, from "really liked with a few reservations" to "oh god, I hated it, I was bored, even the music was bad." We all agreed the FX were damned amazing tho. I can't wait for the inevitable immersion ride.
After, we ended up at a new-to-me restaurant -- Whym. American comfort food, and we were mightily comforted. They have a small but acceptable scotch list, but I went with the mood of the group and had a mojito instead. I had two, in fact, which is my limit for mojitos (do not let them fool you. They are things of great and terrible evil, and if I have three, I become a force of great and terrible evil. Or at least later embarrassment.)
Oh, and I also picked up a new cookbook, while wandering through the B&N. *looks innocent and helpless and it totally mugged me, I swear...*
In other news, I have now seen Avatar, and so can post an actual Informed Opinion.
And my AIO is that this movie doesn't have a single uncliched or interesting thought in its pretty little head. And, for the most part, I'm okay with that.
The longer version is that I think this was 3/4 of a decent military SF movie with Extra! EyeCandy! in the form of the special effects (the world itself was stunning, absolutely stunning, if I do have a few quibbles about the biological evolution of the species), and then devolved into 1/4 of a really so bad it's insulting movie toward the end, where everyone's reduced to a cliche of an archetype, the language goes from gung-ho adventure to ... well, both the military guy and the liberal tree-hugger were offended on behalf of all the characters, for how they fell apart, and the ending...
*facepalm* Nobody thought the ending through at all. Because no matter how well you defeat the invading force once, if you have something the invaders want, badly? And you have only a primitive, if effective, surprise weapon on your side? They will come back and nuke you from orbit. Seriously.
[EtA: yes, I used to edit stuff like this for a living. It was my job to ask pointy-type ploty questions and demand a decent response -- or at least a convincing handwavium. And, while we're on the topic - unobtanium? Seriously? Seriously?]
But, despite the paint-by-numbers and the failure of biology, and the failure of military thought (I expected better of a Marine), the fact is that the 3D in this movie is light years ahead of anything I've seen before: it enhances the experience, rather than jarring you with the FX, adds depth without distraction, and didn't give me even the slightest hint of vertigo or headache, as previous attempts did without fail. I compared the movie later to dating a much-younger companion: "shhh, don't say anything. Don't ruin it. Just look pretty."
The opinions of our group were mixed, from "really liked with a few reservations" to "oh god, I hated it, I was bored, even the music was bad." We all agreed the FX were damned amazing tho. I can't wait for the inevitable immersion ride.
After, we ended up at a new-to-me restaurant -- Whym. American comfort food, and we were mightily comforted. They have a small but acceptable scotch list, but I went with the mood of the group and had a mojito instead. I had two, in fact, which is my limit for mojitos (do not let them fool you. They are things of great and terrible evil, and if I have three, I become a force of great and terrible evil. Or at least later embarrassment.)
Oh, and I also picked up a new cookbook, while wandering through the B&N. *looks innocent and helpless and it totally mugged me, I swear...*
