Avatar gets thumbs up at London premiere

They rolled out the blue carpet in Leicester Square last night for the stars of Avatar, one of the most expensive - and one of the most hyped - films in the history of Hollywood. And although everyone attending was sworn to secrecy, 20th Century Fox was never going to stop London film journalists answering the £300m question: is it any good?
 
The answer, after critics took off their 3D glasses and rubbed their eyes, was Yes. And would it win Oscars? Yes, probably.
 
Sigourney Weaver (right), Sam Worthington, Michelle Rodriguez and Zoe Saldana - shimmering in a floor-length silver gown (above left) - joined director James Cameron for the premiere.
 
Cameron, looking older and greyer than the last time he wheeled out a blockbuster - it's 12 years since Titanic - was just glad to have the film finished. "It's a big relief for me to be done with the film and to know that people are finally going to be seeing it, that it's out of my hands at this point," said the Canadian-born director.
 
He played down hopes of emulating Titanic's clean sweep at the 1998 Oscars - which included best film and best director - saying: "I think they should give serious attention to the technical work, the visual effects and photography, sound, music... it's a beautiful score. As for the other stuff, the Academy tends to be not that interested in science fiction films, fantasy films, but we'll see. It's a possibility."
 
One man already convinced the film will score at the Academy Awards is Sam Rubin, entertainment reporter for the Los Angeles television station KTLA, who flew over for the premiere.
 
"While the standing ovation the film received at its conclusion is probably just the requisite politeness," he blogged this morning, "I can report that this is another rare example where the quality of the movie does indeed exceed the hype and Avatar will most certainly be among the 10 best picture nominees for the Oscars; and James Cameron will also be a best director nominee."
 
Rubin also thought Zoe Saldana - "who has the most challenging of roles in the film" - would be up for an acting nomination.
 
Of the London journalists, most gave 'snapshot' reviews - just enough to get across that they liked it without breaking the agreement that they would not review the film early (it doesn't open at cinemas until December 18).
 
As Mark Brown writes in the Guardian: "The film does not make you sick and it is not a disaster. ... By saying Avatar was really much, much better than expected, that it looked amazing and that the story was gripping - if cheesy in many places - the Guardian is in technical breach of the agreement."
 
However, those papers that held back will have been upset to see that the two London dailies owned by Fox's Australian lord and master Rupert Murdoch - the Times and the Sun - have both published full-length reviews.
 
Wendy Ide of the Times writes: "Avatar is an overwhelming, immersive spectacle. The state-of-the-art 3D technology draws us in, but it is the vivid weirdness of Cameron's luridly imagined tropical otherworld that keeps us fascinated."
 
"At times it verges on the tacky, like a futuristic air freshener advertisement with the colour contrast turned up to the max [Hold on Sheila, where's this going?]. The ethically accented orchestral score certainly doesn't help matters. But mostly, it's a place of wonder, full of exotically freakish animal composites - iridescent lizard birds, hammer-headed rhinos - and sentient vegetation [That's more like it]."
 
Ide is describing the extraterrestrial moon of Pandora where scientist Sigourney Weaver has sent a team of humans - or rather, their 'avatars' - to infiltrate the blue-skinned alien humanoids, the Na'vi, so that they can plunder the moon's mineral resources.
 
"Aware that the core audience for the film is likely to be teenaged boys," Ide goes on, "Cameron has equipped the female Na'vi with supermodel looks and curves in all the right places, as well as tails and pointy ears."
 
The Sun wanted to assure its readers that they would not be over-stretched by the movie. "It's unashamedly populist. Just like Titanic," wrote 'The Sneak'. "But don't worry. This isn't a preachy story. It's big action." ·