Before its full trailer was released just this week, James Cameron's Avatar had three notable preludes: its debut footage at Comic-Con, an online teaser trailer in August, and, of course, the big chunk of screen time from Avatar Day. Each of those clips was met by...well, let's say less-than-universal acclaim. That said, the newest, final Avatar trailer is probably its best yet.
It's three-and-a-half minutes long (shade of When in Rome!) but it saves the big blue Na'Vi in the room until the ninety-second mark. Prior to that, the trailer finally spells out the film's plot and backstory, which had been missing to an almost crippling degree in its ad campaign until now. I'm still not completely convinced by the Na'Vi, and I'm not eagerly anticipating airless scenes of CG monsters whomping on each other (the climax of The Incredible Hulk kind of cured me of that), but at least this trailer seems to be touting the film effectively. For years, we've been told that we're compelled to go watch Avatar, that it will reinvent our whole cinematic experience. This trailer simply asks us if we want to watch a good movie.
VERDICT: Sold