Sean_Rhodes
"It's Like Stepping Into a Dream..."
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James Cameron's epic sci-fi fantasy film released in 2009.
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Rating:
+3
One of my English teachers and I got into it repeatedly regarding several of my writings during high school. It frustrated me because I felt that my stuff was genereally better than anything else submitted under the given conditions. As my time there came to a close, the instructor informed me that he was harder on me because he held me to a higher standard. That's how I feel about James Cameron.
Consider this list (Cameron wrote as well as directed): Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator II, True Lies, Titanic, and now Avatar. Since this is a review about Avatar, I'll simply say that's a pretty good list (True Lies notwithstanding) and if you don't understand why you probably don't want to speak too loudly in public about movies. Unlike other directors that are constantly up and down or do director-for-hire work, Cameron writes, directs, and edits in virtually every department. While usually "the director's vision" is a bunch of pretentious hooey, it actually has a lot of weight when referring to Cameron's work. He gets the credit; he gets the blame.
Contrary to several interviews that seemed to imply that Avatar was more complex than the trailers indicated, Avatar was exactly what the trailers indicated. Have you seen Dances With Wolves, District 9, or any number of other films or books that used this premise? Same deal, only with beautifully (no tongue, no cheek; the Na'vi look amazing) rendered blue aliens as the indigenous persons.
Within Avatar are a lot of great ideas, but most of them are obscured by the rows of carefully set dominos the size of mattresses; everything in Avatar is blatantly obvious and happens in a very obvious manner. On the positive side, as stated above, the Na'vi look amazing, as in life-like, as in so beautiful (and I'm sure this was the point) that whenever Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) returns to his human form, I was anxious for him to hop back to his blue girlfriend, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana, easily the best thing about the movie), and the wondrous photosynthesis lightshow provided by the plant life of Pandora. The other major positive is the climactic battle, which is well executed, but does highlight some of the films weaknesses when you realize that you don't really give a damn about anyone outside Jake and Neytiri.
How positively anti-human you find yourself by film's end (YOU DAMN DIRTY HUMANS!) is not a good thing. That door gunner who gets his head bitten off by the giant pterodactyl doesn't give a shot glass full of urine about spiritual trees or unobtainium (sci-fi super-metal). If trends stay as they always have, he came from a poor background and joined the military because it was the best way for him to escape poverty and provide for his family. We are manipulated to weep for the poor, noble, nameless, faceless Na'vi, but who weeps for the nameless, faceless, human and his mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter?
The morally and ethically indefensible humans (YOU DAMN DIRTY HUMANS!) - those who do not side with the Na'vi - are represented by two characters, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and Parker Selfridge (Selfish, get it? Giovanni Ribisi). I read a review in which someone said they knew people in the military like Quaritch. If you do, run, don't walk, to a police station, or call a doctor or someone, or take one for the team and execute them with a bullet to the brainstem. Joseph Stalin would've counseled this tool to lighten up. He's not just following orders, he actually seems UPSET by the idea of a diplomatic solution, as if his job is not to move the Na'vi, but to wipe them out. Plus, he seems to have all the respect in the world for the dangers of the world of Pandora but none of that respect trickles to the Na'vi themselves. He's a cartoon character of EVIL, so of course when he dies, you pump your fist with hateful glee, the only sadness being that you wish he could've died sooner.
Parker is more believable as a jackass, being a corporate ass-lackey interested in - surprise, surprise - money. That he is devoid of humanity too is only annoying because there's no play between he and Quaritch; one could very likely be the avatar of the other since there is no disagreement betwixt them ever. My main gripe with Parker is that, evil though suit-wearers generally are, they usually lie to themselves and/or others about their intentions. No CEO says, "these layoffs are so I can get that fifth home and a new yacht." They make up some excuse about how it's best for the people they are laying off to start new lives and sh*t, but Parker more or less states, "The blue monkey people need to get off our scratch" and he says it to Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), the uber-liberal head of the science department.
I was pretty unforgiving of District 9 and Avatar has a lot in common with it. While Avatar is a far better technical achievement, it too suffers from a couple of convenient sweeps of the hand - "pay no attention to that man!" - particularly when Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez) openly disobeys orders yet is free to bust everyone out of the brig five minutes later.
I'm aware of the allegories, whether it's Native Americans, conflict diamonds, Vietnam, the Middle East, etc. That doesn't make the movie better; it just makes it smell more like propaganda.
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More Avatar (2009 film) reviews
I was waiting to write this review for a while because I had only seen it in 3D. I was utterly amazed because it was the first 3D movie I had ever seen. I wanted to go straight home and write a review giving it a +5 rating. Upon talking with others who had seen the movie and reading various criticisms and analyzes of the film, I began to doubt my initial reaction. Was I letting the CGI effects and the 3D elements hype the movie to a level it didn't deserve? So, I was determined … more
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James Cameron, it seems to me, creates wonderful dishware in which to place the most nourishing and satisfying of those things we humans crave. All those J. Cameron-imprinted tureens and goblets took rare imagination and meticulous craftsmanship to make. Just one piece can cost a Wall Street banker's annual bonus. They boggle. But look inside that tureen and there ain't no vichyssoise. Take Avatar. This is one of the most beautiful movies you'll ever hope … more
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It’s when Adventure meets Art, you’ve got the human spirit all throughout this film. The good, the bad. Learning is a way of life. Innocence is inherent. Trust in the invisible and the unknown. The spirit within each living thing. Every day is an adventure. Entertainment at its summit! A Dreamland. A Wonderful World. A Stunning Visual. An Incredible Imagination. A World beyond words … more
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Well, here goes nothing. I've not really done movie reviews before, and honestly am intimidated to a degree by the major film buffs who are incredibly adept at breaking down plots, themes, and drawing parallels to other films. This is simply my totally novice, average schmo-ette attempt to share my thoughts ... so please be kind : ) My main take-aways: This will be the Star Wars for my young daughter's generation. I wanted to BECOME one of … more
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*** out of **** James Cameron knows how to build hype. He also knows how to spend money very well. “Avatar” is the result of how Cameron spends his time and money, being a technical masterpiece but none the less a terribly familiar trip. Sure, it’s very engaging. Sure, it looks pretty. But when watching it, I noticed that everything Cameron shows or does is something that has been done before. Some of his choices often result in “Avatar” being very predictable … more
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review by amanbehl.
January 24, 2011
Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good Too good
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Avatar is your basic outsider/broken dude finds himself in a place he dosent belong/fit in. And after being there a while he finds himself and he's a new man. Avatar felt like a play it safe movie to me. It was predictable and we've literally seen movies like this a thousand times. The 3-D in my opinion didnt really add anything to the film. So after all that why am I giving this movie a 3 and a half? Because Avatar is one of the most awe-inspiring movies Ive seen in a long time. I loved … more
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review by plaNetweaver.
December 29, 2009
I bow to our friend, who prefaced his astonished and profound appreciation of the Avatar movie with "It drives me nuts.." (that they have to include the dominator thing.....) "But...." The conversation that ensued resulted in all 8 of us (4 couples) going to IMax for the experience (that one couple's second viewing). We came out of there with 'sea legs' and we're still re-orienting. It's significant in my little Universe … more
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Let’s get one thing out of the way, James Cameron’s “AVATAR” is the most expensive film ever made; with a staggering budget of $ 230 million (there’s a rumor that they ended up spending $ 260 mil), expectations for the film is very high. Cameron had impressed me with “Aliens”, “The Abyss”, Terminator and T2: Judgment Day” but I decided to keep my expectations low. He won … more
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review by Husher315.
December 18, 2009
James Cameron has outdone himself! He may have actually outdone the whole entire film industry. Never in my life have I seen a film so brilliant and beautiful that it made me rethink the whole way in which I look at film. Avatar is what movies are all about; transporting you into the film and making you feel as if you're really there. Mr. Cameron has accomplished that with they way in which he has revolutionized the 3D genre of filmmaking. Avatar isn't just another … more
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About the reviewer
Brian (cenobite7)
I've spent years trying to make others happy & not really focusing on what's most important in my own life. Having said that, my own health & security are paramount so now I'm more … more
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About this movie
Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang. The film is set in the year 2154, when humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a lush moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi—a sentient humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to the genetically engineered Na'vi and human hybrid bodies used by several human characters to interact with the natives of Pandora.
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Development on Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's 1997 film Titanic, for a planned release in 1999, but according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet available to achieve his vision of the film. Work on the language for the film's extraterrestrial beings began in summer 2005, and Cameron began developing the screenplay and fictional universe in early 2006.
Avatar was officially budgeted at US$237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production, and at $150 million for promotion. The film was released for traditional two-dimensional projectors, as well as in 3-D, using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D and IMAX 3D formats, and also in ...
Director:
James Cameron
Genre:
Action,
Adventure,
Drama,
Fantasy,
Sci-Fi
Release Date:
December 18, 2009
MPAA Rating:
PG-13
Screen Writer:
James Cameron
Runtime:
162 minutes
Studio:
20th Century Fox
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But there is TRUE propaganda and there is FALSE propaganda. Why did the door gunner come from a poor family? How much land on this planet is controlled by people of European descent? And why?
Because of all of the poor door gunners over the last 500 years?
Do you know that double-entry accounting is 700 years old? What does that have to do with anything you say? How hard can it be if it is 700 years old especially with all of the cheap computers we have these days? But have you ever heard an economist suggest that accounting be mandatory in the schools? But we have all this blather about education. So why do we have so much poverty with so much great technology and so many expensive schools?
Sometimes propaganda is relevant because so many people have not cashed their reality check.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0wk4qG2mIg