Posted on 12/20/2009 7:40:54 PM PST by dr_lew
Saw Avatar tonight in 3D at the 4:20 showing. I was split between disgust with the "message" and curiosity about the CGI and 3D, and the latter won out. ( SPOILERS BELOW )
The 3D works very well, with only occasional funky edges to it in some of the busier scenes. I had read about people getting sick from it, and I did feel a little funny after just a few minutes of watching some of the 3D previews, but I got used to it after that. In the beginning of the movie I felt a lot of "Gee, this is great" but I got kind of used to it, although there were still plenty of impressive scenes.
The "evil humans" schtick was lathered on pretty heavy, but I got used to that too, and in fact the plot was heavily dependent on it. "Jake" had to have polar opposite worlds to choose from in order to drive the whole story arc, as familiar it is.
The premise of being on a world of Alpha Centauri was given only a nod at the beginning, when Jake is coming out of "cryo" after 5 years along with a bunch of others. The deep space vehicle got a few shots, too, and it was sort of a fancied up "Discovery" out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The movie quickly focuses on the Avatar technology and Jake's involvement in it, and the background is left very thin, and very unconvincing. The Avatar technology itself remains an important plot driver, though. It's funny how it seems acceptable as technology just by adherence to a few gimmicky props. Other than those, it makes no sense whatever, being completely fantastical, and way out of step with the familar "look and feel" of the depicted military machinery.
The "Dances with Wolves" story line is very involving and well done. The novice initiate destined for greatnesss is pretty much a can't-lose gimmick, so at least Cameron didn't blow that.
I thought his initiation into dragon riding paid an homage to the cliff scene in LAST OF THE MOHICANS. The similarity is superficial, but it definitely reminded me of it.
The destruction of the Home Tree definitely drew on WTC imagery, and this seems to confuse the message of evil humans/Americans ( the humans are nothing but Americans in the movie! ) This is really part of the "blame Bush" syndrome that we are familiar with, and ultimately the Stockholm syndrome, I think. The dialogue is loaded with not so oblique references to the "war for oil", and this is the basic framework of the conflict. The Na'vi are pure depictions of American Indians, though, and in fact that role is alluded to as well, when it is noted that more "Sky people" will follow if they are not defeated now.
In this case, the Indians do win, and the ending scene with the Humans being marched back onto their ships to leave POW style was very jarring, ( wouldn't they just have killed them? I think they would have! ) and a strong image of liberal self-hatred, as we are definitely supposed to look on this as a just conclusion.
As for Jake, he is permanentized as a Na'vi by a method which is worked into the plot line pretty well, but I guess I don't need to spell it out here.
Got it. Dances with smurfs in space.
Getting the [Keebler elves] to move is Jake Sully's job. And he does earn their trust, even though the leader of their tribe says, "His alien scent offends my nose!" (The line is translated from their nonexistent language with subtitles that are designed to look like the men's room signs at an Indian casino.) The Blue People, in particular the contemptuous and lovely Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), show him their wondrous ways. But before he can discuss hiring Allied Van Lines with them, the Evil Corporation intervenes.
It is run by an evil Yuppie, and the Yuppie's security is provided by an evil Marine. And for no good reason other than to get the movie into its second act, they decide to stage a military attack on the Elf Tree, thus blowing the zillions of dollars they sank into the project of making Jake Sully into a Blue Person rather than waiting a couple of weeks.
Oy, the suffering that ensues, all for some lousy unobtainium! Oy, the destruction! You can hear writer-director James Cameron weeping over his special-effects computer as the bad humans he created commit this terrible atrocity against the Blue People who don't exist. As for me, I was reminded of Oscar Wilde's immortal crack about Charles Dickens's tears as he killed off the child heroine of his Old Curiosity Shop: "It would take a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing.
It’s worth seeing for the visual effects alone. The most visually stunning movie ever created. It was hard to tell the real world from the CGI world and actors. Seemless. At times, I just wanted to walk around in that CGI world for an hour or so. Just amazing.
The story and plot were OK. After reading everything here, I was really afraid it was a total liberal PC story. But it really wasn’t too bad. They didn’t dwell a lot on WHY they were doing what they were doing. Or if it was right or wrong. They just focused on what WAS happening. Mostly people taking orders. And of course a few brave souls take on the establishment to change the world. I found myself rooting for the indigenous people to beat the bad guys.
This movie will change the face of movie and video game making forever. In 5 years, this CGI technology will be used everywhere. Like Star Wars, Jurrasic Park, The Matrix, etc, this will change movie making. It will win every movie technical award out there.
You should see it. And judge for yourself.
You know, I keep hearing people say that the film is not really an indictment of American military because in the story they were not, strictly speaking, actual American military troops.
But you would only know that through cursory dialogue. Everything else in the picture depicts them as American military.
They wearing military uniforms. They’re led by a “Colonel.” They use military weapons. They use military aircraft. They use military attack robot machines. They are all “ex- military.” The hero is a former Marine and called “jar-head.” The commander speaks of “shock and awe.” And this is not an international unit — they are all Americans. What happened to the rest of the people on planet Earth, I don’t know.
So yeah, technically speaking, Cameron can claim, “Hey, I never said this was the US military.” But everything in the movie, except a few lines of dialogue, is designed to lead you to believe otherwise. So I’m not buying that argument.
I saw it in 3-D IMAX, and I enjoyed the special effects and action sequences a lot. The storyline, however, was trite and obvious.
The precious metal is called “unobtainium” - sheesh, did George Lucas write this? I swear, liberal screen writers can be such idiots.
The precious metal is called “unobtainium” - sheesh, did George Lucas write this? I swear, liberal screen writers can be such idiots.
No thanks. I prefer story, writing, and acting. “Special effects” are for children.
Great post. Yeah Cameron like Lucas and the others are megolmaniacs who will make sure they save the world while selling tons of crappy plastic toys.
Sort of makes me respect someone like Coppolla (even though he is a bit of a lib) a lot more for The Conversation, Apoc Now and to a lesser extent the godfather. To his credit he had Milus co-write Apoc Now with him so it was lib and warrior writing the script.
All I saw is a trailer, and the movie looks awful.
Looks like a video game.
I have a feeling it will prove nothing more than a bigger budget more elaborate “Doom the Movie” movie, but for all that no less a waste of time.
That is my impression from the trailer.
Don’t worry about aruanan. He’s ticked off if anyone complains about Avatar, apparently he’s spending all his time finding FR threads about it and harassing anyone woh criticizes it. I actually think he is James Cameron.
I was looking for the exits. The ex marine is a traitor. Little Big Horn and Black Hills gold.
Well, it was made clear that Jake had a time limit, and that they were going to move the 'dozers when they were ready. This was part of the inexorable pressure of business, and was thematically consistent with the whole premise, sketchy as it was ( and very 1950's ! )
I actually forget the exact progression of the escalation which started with Jakes attack on the Bulldozer. Didn't this precipitate the attack on Home Tree? You know, "All right! That's it!!!" Certainly there was a fair amount of dialogue devoted to the motivation for it.
Anyway, the whole premise was full of holes, and you just have to go with the flow of events as presented. I don't think "they could have waited a little longer" is a compelling objection in this context.
LOL.. I gotcha.
Thanks for that summary.
I expect my niece will go see it....I guess main thing is to be nearby in case she gets dizzy or nauseous from the 3D effects....yours truly will not be enduring that.
That's Bulwer-Lytton material, right there.
It is a liberal screed. Through the magic of dialogue ( earth is never shown ) we learn that there is no green left on earth, and the few hundred humans on Pandora are returning to a dying planet. This is a reversal of the stock 50's theme of aliens from a dying world trying to take over earth.
LOL - could be!
I won’t be seeing it - but will be nearby if my niece insists on doing so.
I'm flattered.
Thanks for the review, although you should’ve put a spoiler warning for those last two sentences. But no one else has complained.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.