Avatar
Before I write about Avatar, I wanted to officially thank RTM over at Flixchatter who was kind enough to award me a second Kreativ Blogger award. This is very exciting since I just recently got to know her blog and already love it. So if you don’t know her fabulous blog yet, go and check it out!
Now, I finally managed to see Avatar. We wanted to see it in IMAX 3D which was constantly sold out, so it took a while. It was actually sold out again and even though we arrived at the cinema at 9pm and the movie was supposed to start at 9.45pm, we were already in the continuing waiting line. After a while, they even stopped the escalator from running so that people started queueing down the stairs, two flights down the stairs to be exact. It was crazy! This movie has been out for weeks! I know that the visiter numbers have gone down in normal 3D and I don’t know who would even watch it without any 3D but I think it will stay in the IMAX cinemas for a while longer.
So, why all this madness? Well, the movie is extremely well made. No question about it. The world of Pandora is so gorgeous, I wish I could go there on my next vacation. Screw it, I want to move there! The glowing colors, all the animals, the flying mountains, all of it is so well thought out and stunning that it is a joy to be a part of this foreign world for almost three hours. Even though the natives look a bit like fish and their faces are not really human like, they are still very gorgeous and attractive. Who wouldn’t want to glow in the dark?
I had been warned (read this, it’s so funny) that the story is like Pocahontas but I guess I didn’t quite believe it. I thought they would at least change it a bit. I was wrong. It is exactly the same story, not only as Pocahontas but as so many films that I have seen before. It was absolutely predictable to the last little detail. I am hoping that now that they took this giant step into a new world of filmmaking, that they can be bothered to also come up with a unique script. Having said all that, the setting of the film is very unique. As I said, Pandora is gorgeous.
As beautiful as this film was, I didn’t fall in love with it as everyone else did. While watching it, I was thoroughly entertained but when the credits came up the feeling didn’t stick. The end song is so much like “My heart will go on” from Titanic that all I could think about was how unoriginal James Cameron really is. He knows how to make a block buster but doesn’t actually come up with his own ideas. And even though I am not criticizing the way that the movie was made, I don’t think I will ever see it again and I also don’t think that many people will buy it on DVD because it really only works in 3D. I mean, it was a very special sensation (especially in IMAX) to almost be flying on my own dragon along with Jake and Neytiri but on a small TV it just won’t work the same way.
Since this movie is very difficult for me to rate, I will split the rating up:
The Look: 5 MovieStars + The Story: 2 MovieStars = Over all:
Tags: 3D, Avatar, IMAX, James Cameron
January 20th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
I don’t think that the film was so glaringly a Pocahontas redux, but I guess it’s all subjective. I would actually be willing to see it again, and you can’t really blame James for the song [that's James Horner]. And I actually loathed the theme song, Titanic’s tune [tear-jerker, yes] was better. Glad you at least liked it though.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:38 am
I actually love it when movies like this come along once a year or so that spark the “OMG/WTF” cycle. We all know the drill by know…its lead up is full of questions…its debut is full of raves…its run is full of backlash.
You’re absolutely right – it’s in no way original, but then again neither was STAR WARS. I would never ever suggest it as a contender for best screenplay, but for me – and maybe this is me being an apologist – it was “good enough”.
I will end up buying it on DVD I’m sure. However until then, I’ll reccomens it to people looking for spectacle. There are very few films that could tack 25% on to the ticket price and still leave me feeling like it was money well spent. AVATAR did that.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:49 am
@Encore – I’m glad you liked the movie! Did you read the link to the Pocahontas summery? At the time I really liked the cheesy Titanic song. Now I am really annoyed by it. I don’t like the Avatar song though.
@Hatter – I can totally see your point. It is a very entertaining film, especially if you like spectacles. It was really important for me to see it since I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. And the money is well spent because it is a lot of fun to watch it. But not enough for me to watch it again.
January 21st, 2010 at 9:03 am
Excellent review Vanessa. Much like you, it really bugged me that the storyline was so unoriginal and full of cliches. The movie really is only a reason to demonstrate the visuals and technology that is behind the movie and I definitely agree that Avatar won’t age well.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@Castor – Thanks! Yes, I am hoping that now that they got this out of their system, they are going to use the new technology for more interesting projects!
January 21st, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Thanks for the kind words and shout-out, Vanessa! I’m so glad I discovered your fun blog, too.
As for Avatar, I think a lot of people who love it (me included) have the same gripe about the story, though it didn’t derail the movie for me. I hate the song too from the second I heard it, it is like you said very Titanic-like, which is NOT a good thing. But with that said, my hubby & I might see it again this weekend. We’ll see if we like it better (or not) the second time around.
January 21st, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Yep, this movie is all about the looks. (So superficial!) Very beautiful to watch, very dull story-wise. I get the Pocahontas comparison, though it’s also a bit Dances With Wolves (in space). I couldn’t really remember the native names, so I refer to the main blue girl as Jumps-with-a-bow. Like you, I’m glad I saw it, but not anxious to go again.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:50 pm
This is an event movie like Cameron’s previous movie, “Titanic”. It needs to be seen at the theaters. I gave the movie 4 stars purely on the fact of the spectacular visuals and the expierence of watching it in 3D.
When this movie comes out on DVD, it would just be another “white guilt” story.
The story was “meh”, but Cameron didn’t give a damn about that. He wants the money back that he spent on it. It took him over twenty to get all the compeants together and this is what he came up with. Huh! Anybody in writing school could come up with that.
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:12 am
@RTM – Wow, you must have really liked it then. I guess I wouldn’t fall asleep watching it again and I also wouldn’t mind spending more time on Pandora but it would really never cross my mind to watch it twice.
@Wendymoon – Its nice to hear from you again! I’m so sad that you don’t really write your blog anymore!
@Branden – I heard that he worked on it a really long time ago and then put it aside cause the special effects weren’t up to it at the time. Once he saw Gollum in LOTR he decided that he could start it up again. But either way…working on it for that long, you could write a more creative story. I completely agree, any student could write a better story…
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Don’t give up on me yet! I may be slow, but I’m still watching and writing.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 pm
*le sigh*
This topic is wearing on me, just because I keep getting caught off guard.
I keep reading reviews and thinking it’s going to be a pretty negative, low rating or grade, and seeing a substantial grade or score in respect. It’s just the constant repetitive argument about the story being too simplistic or unoriginal. I’m not going to argue that point, but I’m going to pick up a little on what Hatter mentioned earlier about Star Wars. It is incredibly flawed, but us Star Wars junkies love it in spite of it’s flaws. That’s how I feel about Avatar. The kind of movies that take fantasy and make them real, and make you feel like a kid again. I don’t need the Departed or Inglourious Basterds for that. I can enjoy each for what they are what they do for me.
Nonetheless, as I’ve left on a few other comments, this was Cameron’s original conception of what he wanted. I think it would have made it a “better” movie or more of a “Cameron” movie, especially if broken up into two films. However, I am more than happy with what I got.
http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/21969/1/PROJECT-880-THE-AVATAR-THAT-ALMOST-WAS/Page1.html
Oh, and Vanessa. He DID have the technology ten years ago, it was just too expensive to do at the time.
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:54 am
@Heather – I guess it really is a debate at the moment. Are the special effects enough to forget about the fact that we have seen similar stories before? For me they weren’t. I loved Pandora but it wasn’t enough for me to fall in love with the movie. I wasn’t bored watching it but the movie rarely surprised me after the initial “wow”…
@ Wendymoon – I’ll never give up on you
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:23 pm
A friend of mine says: The special effects are great. But the film is full of racism. I have not seen yet. But I ask: Is that true?
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
@ Claire… Not even a little bit. Your friend wasn’t paying attention.
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
@Claire – Well, I wouldn’t say the film is racist. It is about racism. The American’s in the movie treat the natives like they are worth a lot less then themselves. That is why a lot of people make the comparison to Pocahontas (where the Europeans come over to America and banished and killed the Native Americans to get their land). Since Americans made Avatar and the Americans in the movie are the “bad guys” I wouldn’t say it is racist because it would be racism against themselves. The only slightly racist point that I can see is that the main guy (Jake) who is living undercover with the Natives of Pandora becomes their leader in the end. But since he sees that they have a better way of living and that they are the “nicer race,” I would say he gets confirmed rather then that it is a racist act. So to sum things up: In my view Avatar is a portrayal of racism but it is not racist.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:35 pm
@ Heather: Great point and I guess it all comes to individual expectations. I feel like every movie should strive to be perfect in all aspect but I can see that some can love the movie for what is it and not what isn’t.
@ Claire: See it for yourself. There is nothing blatant but I guess if you dig hard enough, you can make it out to be whatever you want it to be
January 24th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
I would love to have the red/yellow dragon. And a forest as well. I could live without some of these animals: Avatar – a film by James Cameron.
I saw it today and thought it was light entertainment. At least story-wise. I hated the battle in the second half.
Now I need someone who can explain to me how I can make 3D movies. 3D is a real cinema experience, especially in Avatar.
January 24th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
@Claire- The dragons are pretty cool!
January 25th, 2010 at 12:45 am
Indeed. Which one do you want?
January 25th, 2010 at 5:04 am
@Claire – Any of them would do…maybe not the red one…to scary!
January 25th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
I hear your objections, Vanessa, and I’ll say that it took me a long time to see “Avatar” because I wanted to wait until (most) of the hype died down.
For me, “Avatar” is purely about the visuals. Visually, the film is pretty damn close to flawless. However, the plot has a few problems, including one-note characters (most notably the two “villains,” Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribisi) and a more-than-slightly recycled storyline. Those elements, I think, are what prevented me from falling as hard for “Avatar” as everyone else did.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:04 am
No love for the ground wildlife?
January 26th, 2010 at 6:09 am
@Castor – LOL!
@ M.Carter – My thoughts exactly.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I touched upon that racism blathering on one of my posts (http://wp.me/pxXPC-Pv) and this is what I wrote:
Now, even if you haven’t seen the movie, some of you might’ve heard the racism debate surrounding Avatar that centers on its depiction of the Na’vi and how they are saved from extinction. You can read more about it here. Well, as a non-white person myself, I find that whole notion ridiculous. I mean, when you think about it, you can find faults in just about any movie, but since Avatar is such a massive success, it just becomes an easy target. I found this blog post through wordpress (http://quirkyindian.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/of-avatar-and-racism/) which I thought summed up my thoughts about the whole racism accusation better than I ever could. He looked at three other possible options to depict the two races in the movie, and basically concluded “… that whatever depiction Cameron chose, he would still have been skewered. The PC brigade would have been out to get him no matter what. So, unless he had made Avatar with robots as characters, or as an animated film with tigers and lambs, these people would have found it racist, no matter what.” My point exactly!
January 26th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
@RTM – I completely agree. That is like saying Inglourious Basterds or District 9 are racist films. They are not, they are just showing racism. Those are two completely different things! Thanks for your input on the debate
January 26th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Now that I have seen the movie I can understand the racism debate. There are lots of small things where you can see racism. And many many people have seen the movie. Yesterday it topped Titanic. So…
January 26th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Yeah well, they’re probably the same people who think The Passion of the Christ was anti-Jewish… well duh! Jesus Christ himself was Jewish, he-llo?! It’s sad when people miss the point completely [sigh].
January 27th, 2010 at 2:16 am
@ Caire – Do you mean because there are so many people that saw it, a lot of different opinions come up? I guess that is what we have been saying. I stand by my opinion though…the film is not racist!
@ RTM- Exactly! Its just silly!
January 29th, 2010 at 9:18 am
WHoaaaaa i love this movie soooo much!