My movie "review" methodology

So, in my last post, I gave a link to a 70 minute video review of The Phantom Menace. Part of the reason for that was because I saw Avatar (in 4D no less!).

First off, I should mention that I really enjoyed watching Avatar. I thought it was a good movie with some great visuals although it was a bit heavy handed with the "commercialism is bad" message. Also, judging from the headache that I got as I came out of the movie theatre, I can guarantee that I won't be watching a lot of 3D movies.

And that is pretty much the extent of any "review" that I generally do for movies. You see, I don't do movie reviews because I don't like to analyse movies and movie plots. In many ways, I'm the perfect hollywood target as, when I go to watch a "summer blockbuster" movie, it only needs to get three things right:

1) Characters that are reasonable enough that I can suspend disbelief
2) Plot that is reasonable enough that I can suspend disbelief
3) Some great action/special effects set pieces that go well with popcorn

You can see from the above that I am already doing my best to help the movie by willingly trying to suspend disbelief. The movie doesn't need great character or a great plot - as long as there is enough there that I can suspend disbelief, then I will probably enjoy the movie. I should add that I do enjoy good characters and plot - I just don't need them in order to enjoy a movie.

In the case of Phantom Menace, I hated some of the characters, which is a real problem when those characters are major plot characters, and felt the plot was ridiculous. This is why, despite a tick against point 3, I was disappointed with Phantom Menace overall. However, in Avatar, it gets just enough right that it ticks off all 3 above although it goes without saying that your mileage will vary depending on what you consider reasonable character and plot.