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David Edelstein, among others, likes what he sees:

The problem until now with Computer Generated Imagery is that it hasn't made the final perceptual leap: It's impressive rather than immersive. Under the guidance of George Lucas, the busiest frames that money could buy were dead on the screen. The vaunted "bully brawl" sequence of The Matrix Reloaded featured a little video Keanu Reeves flinging multiple little video Hugo Weavings skyward with all the verisimilitude of Popeye K.O.'ing Bluto.

In one giant leap, the obsessive Cameron has changed all that. He has advanced the technology. (My press kit mentions, among other inventions, a new kind of "image-based facial performance capture," more intricate "head-rig" systems, a "virtual camera," a "Fusion Camera System," a "Simul-Cam," and an "AMP -- Amplified Mobility Platform -- Suit"). He has also -- partly with 3-D in mind -- made shrewd use of foreground and depth of field. He puts GI-FREAKING-NORMOUS stuff in front and adds layers and layers of texture and movement reaching back into the frame and down to the teeniest pixel. He has created a living ecosystem -- and You (and Your 3-D Glasses) Are There.