Went to see Avatar this weekend. Set on Pandora, director James Cameron spent oodles of dosh to create this world and then pulls focus from the visual feast by trotting out a bunch of preachy nonsense in the form of the trite, hackneyed cliche. Despite the noble savage browbeatery, the world he created is absolutely stunning, and I do recommend you see it, though with a sizeable chunk of salt in tow. We chose to forego the oogy experience of 3-D.
One thing that was really funny to me was that even though there was no mention of prophecy, this film takes a test-toob Na'vi (Our Hero) and just like old Tyrell's Replicants were more human than human, Our Hero was more Na'vi than Na'vi. Wow, it took a white guy to show those ignunt folks how to really take care of themselves! That's never been done before! *much eyerolling*
Points plus and minus for having Wes Studi voice the Na'vi chieftan character. Magwa understand English very well. Also, the first sight of Sigourney Weaver was as she emerged from a stasis chamber - a nod or a wink to Ripley at the end of a film? *shrug* I'm also giving someone thumbs up for not having a pair of smack-talking sidekicks of dubious parentage for comic relief.
LawDog sizes the whole thing up beautifully:
300 million dollars to perfect digital jiggle.
Yep. That's about the size. This'll probably play much better if you wait for the DVD and then just play Dark Side Of The Moon. Or somesuch.
5 comments:
I concur heartily with everything in this review. I did love the movie, though.
That was actually my plan. I'll wait until Netflix has it because I can't stand the thought of giving Cameron $10 to see what is essentially a libtard propaganda film.
My 32" flat screen is big enough to watch "digital jiggle"...heh.
Thanks for the review!
If you don't see it in 3D you are missing out on much of the spectacle. How Cameron makes it part of the visual as opposed to a gimmick is the whole point of the film and the real industry game changer.
I don't understand the "lib propaganda" issue people are raising. It's not a Michael Moore screed, just a movie designed for entertainment.
The "enviro/noble savage" story is a decades-old (Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales" from 1896 anyone?), oft used, utterly toothless part of the national gestalt by this point, not any sort of "call to arms" or proslytization. So why get all up in arms about it now? Cause Barry's in the White House?
It's one of the dozens of extant trite cut-and-paste movie plotlines simply there to hang visuals on, like "unlikely youth becomes a savior" or "evil gov/company/conspiracy must be overcome by individual".
Tell yourselves "it's just a show, I really should relax".
Y'know, watching it Dark Side of the Rainbow style actually sounds like a much more palatable idea.
Y'see the article about little blue wannabees getting all cutty-uppity about being unable to go to Pandora?
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html
I guess there's going to be a whole new section in the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual's next revision.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Good catch with the, "it took a white guy to show those ignunt folks" bit - because they're so evolved, that's just how Liberals roll.
I could care less about visual feasting anymore. Empty calories that leaves the stomach empty - it's just digital jiggle Manga.
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