Avatar!
Oh, I was dreading doing this review. Although I do LOVE trashing bad movies, there a couple reasons why I wasn't looking forward to doing THIS one. For one, I didn't want to have to see it again. Second, it's kind of a controversial subject, this being such a big movie and all. Those that liked it seemed to really like it, those who didn't REALLY DIDN'T! That's the funny thing about James Cameron movies, I guess. At least when to everything since Titanic. But I got little to say on the subject that isn't directly to related to the movie's content, its hype, and how it was TOTALLY UNDESERVED! Yeah, this is Avatar… whatever.
Avatar (the Cameron flick, not the Japanese anime!)
Yes, that another well-known fact about this movie. In addition to sharing so many plot elements with other movies (most of which James Cameron did himself), it also shares a name with a Japanese anime of the same name. To keep things differentiated, the anime and the live-action adaptation, directed by M. Night Shyamalan (huh! another terrible director!) went by its alternate name The Last Airbender. Personally, I think Cameron should have changed the name of HIS movie. Avatar the anime came first, and Cameron's movie had far more to be ashamed of!
In any case, this movie was treated favorably by critics for a number of reasons. Foremost were the visual effects, which everybody agreed were pretty damn impressive! However, those of us who weren't superficial morons noticed a few things that didn't quite measure up to all the hype. Here they are…
1. Insipid Plot:
One thing that Avatar was praised for was its story. I found this funny considering that what I saw was cheesy, cliche, and actually quite racist. And here was what was insipid about all that… and by that I mean, really really bad! For one, the idea of an idealized native culture that is being ruthlessly exploited by evil corporations and their military stooges… Sure, sounds familiar enough, and its pleasing given how the opposite attitude – that of Europeans "civilizing" the "savages" of the world – has been so widely accepted for so long. But it's still pretty insulting. Simply flipping old racist constructs on their head and idealizing the victims doesn't set the record the straight or undo the harm. If anything, its more for the sake of the victimizers that this is done. In short, its easier to call one's own ancestors greedy, evil bastards and vilify them in fiction that it is to actually listen to those who've been victimized and try to learn from their perspective.
Second, if you think about it, this movie was kinda racist itself. The Na'vi were helpless before the onslaught of the human corporation and their armed forces, until a defector came along and led them to victory. Can you say "Great White Hope"? Bingo, these people had to be rescued! What is that if not the more recent, and equally racist notion that the indigenous people of the world who've been traditionally wronged by westerners can only be saved by them? But I'm getting preachy here, moving on! Sure, there were lots of elements from real history, such as the residential school which they had set up for the Na'vi, and the whole "negotiations for their land" angle, but it was all so painfully obvious! Which brings me to point two…
2. Obviousness:
Where to start? How about "Unobtainium"? Seriously… how lame was that?! We already have the many, many instances in the movie where people go on about how rare and valuable this mineral is. You don't have to give it such an obvious name! Second, the name of the planet… Pandora. Also patently obvious and a clear reference to the heavy handed moral of the story, which is that humanity shouldn't be opening that can of worms! Then there was that patently obvious speech the CEO (played by Giovanni Ribisi) where he talks about "Unobtainium" and how the flea-bitten savages are in the way. Did anyone else notice the dream catcher on the wall behind him? Was that not just the most blatant case of symbolism? We get the allegory, and we also get that the guy's a greedy little bastard. You don't have to show AND tell us is such an insistent way.
Ah, and the fact that Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) was going to defect was clear from the beginning, as was the fact that he and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) were going to get together. Cameron is not really known for subtlety of third-act twists, but the only surprise this movie held for me was where Sigourney Weaver died, and how her death paved the way for Sully to undergo his transformation at the end. But that was by no means a BIG surprise, I just didn't see it coming ahead of time. Ah yes, and who can forget the "This is OUR land" speech? Sure, it gave me goose bumps, but all cheesy-ass movie speeches do, especially when they are set to cool background music. But once it was over, all I really thought was how unnecessary it was.
3. Weak Characters:
To put it simply, the characters in this movie are cardboard cut outs. You've got the conflicted hero with the sympathetic injury. You've got the evil military man who's perfectly okay raining saturation fire down on innocent natives. You've got the corporate sleazebag who doesn't give a shit about the "flea-bitten savages" his companies rolling rough-shod over. And then you've got the done-to-death native characters, like the wizened old chief, the stern second in command, and the chiefs daughter who loves the foreigner. Holy shit were these last elements stolen from Pocahontas! As I've said already, nothing original here, just a rehashing of old ideas and things that have been done to death.
4. Recycling:
According to Rotten Tomatoes, critics praised Avatar for its "imaginative, absorbing storytelling." That's also funny because when I watched this movie, all I saw was a rehashing of things he's already done, with some Pocahantas/Dances with Wolves thrown in for good measure. For starters, you've got the theme that was present in Aliens, of the evil mega-corporation that is motivated by unbridled greed. And let's not forget those armored mechs, which very much resemble the cargo loaders from said same movie! Hell, even Sigourney Weaver was in this! I know Cameron likes to reuse actors, but given all the parallels to Aliens that are already in this movie, her presence was just a little obvious. Oh yeah, then you've got the unlikely love story between star-crossed lovers who managed to succeed against all odds. That's Titanic right there! And the whole human-machine hybrid (some alien DNA thrown in there too I think)? That's Terminator!
So really, the only thematic element in this movie that Cameron hasn't already done was the whole raping the virgin planet and exploiting the natives thing, but that he simply ripped off from half a dozen other movies! So really, nothing this movie did was original! Sure, some would say that the concept of a massive, planetwide neural net was cool, but that idea comes to us courtesy of Stanislaw Lem who presented it in the form of a massive, sentient organism that inhabited a planet's ocean (see Solaris).
5. The F/X ARE The Movie!
THe best criticism I've heard yet about this movie has to do with Cameron's motivation for making it. I mean, if you think about it, what was the purpose of creating this… thing? It certainly wasn't to tell a story that needed to be told. And it sure as hell wasn't to add to the already impressive array or original franchises Cameron has under his belt (see Aliens and Terminator). Overall, it really seemed like the only motivation Cameron had in making this movie was to test out the latest in F/X technology. One of the biggest selling points of Avatar, which the studio advertised ruthlessly, was the fact that it boasted the latest in CGI effects, 3D, and fully mapped-out virtual environments. Kinda reminds you of Lucas, huh? Another guy who makes movies simply so he can create something that has the latest in F/X… and no story. In fact, you might say that Cameron was even hoping to replace Lucas as Hollywood's pioneer F/X man. There's something cool about the on the cutting-edge, but as many people have told Lucas, F/X do not a movie make!
And while we're on the topic, what was the hell was all that stuff about people feeling depressed and experiencing withdrawal symptoms after they left the theater? Did they really think the movie was that beautiful? Personally, I found the whole set-up artificial looking and really overdone! In addition to the Na'vi looking like a bunch of cartoon characters, the "rich" 3D environments were so obviously rendered. Some people might find that impressive, but if the Matrix sequels and Star Wars Prequels were any indication, saturating every scene with digital effects doesn't make a movie look or feel any more real.
Okay, now for the good stuff. It WAS entertaining. And I liked the fact that this time around, the natives kicked ass! I was totally set for a sad ending when the final fight scene was happening, which would have been far more realistic considering that's how it happened in the real world. But I think we can all agree, this way was much better! Screw you ya corporate-military asswipes, Eywa don't play that! But alas, I couldn't get over the way this movie was pitched at sort of a fifth-grade level. It was cheesy, cliche, full of obvious references, recycled elements and themes, and really didn't give us anything new aside from the special effects. And even those felt cheesy, and definitely weren't enough to overcome the weaknesses of the plot (and I saw it in Imax!) All in all, I think this movie is best filed in the guilty pleasure column, somewhere between Independence Day and Army of Darkness. Maybe you got other titles in mind, point is, don't expect a lot from this one!
Avatar:
Entertainment Value: 7/10
Plot: 3/10
Direction: 8/10
Overall: 6/10
