So I went to see Avatar on Tuesday Night, and came away with many opinions.
The good:
1)The graphics-It was pretty awesome to watch a movie in 3-d, and it was very sophisticated 3-d, not something you would see at an amusement park. That being said, only certain types of movies should be shown in 3-d, Avatar being one of them.
2)The originality-Props to James Cameron for making up a whole new world with tons of different species and life forms. He apparently made up a whole language for the Na'vi.
3)The plot-Sort of good, but very predictable.
The bad:
1)The blatant political message-I get it. Europeans colonized much of the world, and sometimes treated native populations very poorly. Did I need to be reminded of this during a movie? Not really. Also had direct references to the war in Iraq (mentioned 'shock and awe' campaigns), counter-insurgency terminology (win the hearts and minds of the people), and showed human soldiers burning villages with flamethrowers (like Vietnam). Not only was this annoying, it made no sense within the context of the movie. Why are the characters using 150 year old terms, and why do people still use flamethrowers 150 years in the future? Nobody cares about your political message, we just want to watch an exciting movie.
2)Originality-In some areas it was very poor. For example, why did the humans have such awful technology. The windows on their ships weren't even bulletproof for gosh sakes. They also tried blowing up the Na'vi sacred lands by pushing a sack of explosives out of a moving plane. What is this, World War 2? Where were the ballistic missiles. Freaking birds were flying into ships and destroying them. Super lame.
The animals were also basically animals on earth with a slight twist. Examples include: A slightly more ferocious dog, a rhino mixed with a hammer head shark, slight more vicious birds....
3)Parts that didn't make sense-When Jake goes back to his human body his avatar shuts down. How did nobody notice this was suspicious. It never happened that the Na'vi tried waking him up and nothing happened. Didn't they wonder why he would just collapse all of the time.
Jake turns into an avatar for good, because they pray for him. That's not how science works, I'm pretty sure....
Also why did the Na'vi take him in, in the first place. "Hey, you know I work for this evil company, can I learn all of your ways. My motives are pure, I swear." Seems pretty stupid.
4)The ending-Yay, nature won somehow. Animals suddenly became smart and could differentiate between the good and bad guys. It's not like the humans can't just come back with actual good weapons and repeat the exploitation process.
5)The hair thing-We connect to animals because we all have hair that intertwines with one another. That was pretty lame.
Not to say I thought the movie was bad, but it definitely was not great. Star Wars, this year's Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings are all superior.
If you have any more suggestions of what was good or bad, I would like to hear it.
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3 comments:
3)-I'm fairly certain the Na'vi must have had at least some conception of how Jake wasn't real Na'vi. They called the avatars 'dreamwalkers'.
-The whole idea with the planet is that all the plants are connected neurally like a brain, and they explained that Na'vi could 'upload and download information' from it. So they obviously had a brain transfer application installed.
They took him in because of the sign Neytiri saw (he was the 'one'), and because the lady thought his blood was tasty.
I assumed the animals knew because of the neural network thing.
And the hair is also some sort of neural brain connection.
Other than that, I agree with what you said.
What he said.
I also reject the claim that filmmakers should keep their politics separate from their art. Audiences aren't just there to be mindlessly entertained for two to three hours while they eat pop corn and drink watered down soda (free on Tuesdays!). A well made film should give you something to think about after you've left the theatre, other than how cool the visuals were and how uncomfortable you were made by your attraction to the ten foot blue chick.
Also, I think you're overlooking a lot of thematic weight placed on valuing the cultures and belief systems of others. Generally, we either dismiss these entirely, or conclude that they are wrong, but relatively harmless for others to believe. Jake's conclusion after being immersed in their culture and developing a much deeper understanding of their core beliefs was an acceptance of the inherent wisdom that others possess.
Or maybe he just wanted to keep flying Banshees and bang Neytiri. I don't know. I'm not a scientist.
obviously their culture seems cool because they live on some super planet where mountains float, and everyone is connected by their hair, their is no poverty, and everyone eats rainbows and strawberries. I gotta say James Cameron, native Americans didn't live like that. They got into stupid wars with each other, had a dumb conception of G-d, and had no special connection to animals...
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