Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Avatar: My Initial Opinion

B (7.4)


It's been almost a year since Avatar is first released. It is still in cinemas at the moment currently grossing $2 billion at the box office so far the highest grossing movie of all time beating out Titanic. So what hae I've thought about this movie. Well, here's the story.

I've first seen this movie at its first weekend. I didn't know it would be on 3D, so I just went with 2D. Avatar is great, but it's not a movie that I had never fully experienced. It was a sort of an alright movie. Before I saw it, I know it was directed by James Cameron. I know that there are blue people in their and I know for one thing it would be epic. So to me Avatar was just an alright movie.

In here, Sam Worthington plays Jake Scully a paraplegic soldier who's on the ground of the planet Pandora. Here, Earthlings are almosted numbered and the only source they can rely on for survival is the dimwitted named substance Unobtainium. It is hidden beneath the surface of Pandora and since the planet's natives the Na'vi could get harmed and threatened, Scully is turned into one of them which is called an Avatar. For the first time, he could walk and for the first time he experienced love with the Na'vi woman Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). But things get into trouble when the humans destroyed the rest of the Na'vi's nature and environment to excavate the substance and Scully's involved.

The great things about Avatar is let's say this movie, if it was based on cinematic quality, is visually inventive and innovative. It is so stimulating, I mean if you didn't enjoy Avatar as much as everybody you would give a pass card to its setting and its visuals. Greatly directed by James Cameron who after Titanic had set pessimism to his critics on this movie and had set a landmark example on how to bring motion capture to life

There's an allegory to this movie which is based on environmental and social justice. The Na'vi being all kinds of Indigenous people in this world. We're talking Native Americans, Inuit and Aborigines. So what is this. It's that Indigenous people are being upbrought by every national government and are restricted access to rights particular human rights and land rights. I really like that hidden meaning. It has a message that this movie wanted to show.

Unfortunately, Avatar has its flaws. The screenplay for this film is certainly unoriginal. IT's a ripoff from either Dances With Wolves or Pocahontas. You could describe Avatar as Pocahontas with Smurfs. The acting is not focused as it is overwhelmed with the massive CG effects. Despite that, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana does have some chemistry.

The reason why Avatar is so special is because James Cameron does what it takes to make one grandiose idea into a major epic of a film. Cameron may be the Master of Science Fiction Movies but he doesn't keep balance with the visuals and story, it confuses you whether the effects are important or is the story important.

Avatar is almost a movie franchise. Believe me. It has a huge fan following like Star Trek. It has its own language literally, spawned numerous DVD editions including a Collector's Edition. Unlike movies like Inception, The Matrix, Donnie Darko, Fight Club or Blade Runner, Avatar fit in with everyone no matter what movies you like. No matter how you are. you will like it.

For me, it's just an ok. Saw it once, but I'll never see it again mainly because of its hype. They're addictive and add something special to what movies I like. Avatar just feels too big and I was wondering if Cameron's films like The Terminator or Aliens were better than this.

Believe me. Avatar will never join the ranks as one of the greatest movies of all time. But Avatar will be an unforgetable experience. It introduces a whole new level for the movie theatre.

One reason why I didn't like about Avatar is the 3D. Why would you spend an extra $3 on movies that requires you to watch with glasses capable of watching these movies. Many films work like that, but it seems so edgy and totally ruins the film.

I might be the only guy to feel like this wasn't the movie for me, even though it was fantastic. I believe there might be more people who felt the same.

I also wondered whether Avatar was science fiction or a fantasy movie. The setting makes it look like the setting from Alice In Wonderland. But people still say it's science fiction and I never thought of that since Avatar has less imagination based on scientific thoughts. It never has a kind of philosophy or an idea of what it is.

And James Cameron. I don't know if he's a genius but he makes great movies.

Avatar is a film you could no doubt pay for. But you have to be aware of the story apart from the visuals to enjoy this movie.

2 comments:

  1. Great review. I have to agree with your analysis.

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  2. I feel that once people see it on their small TV's they will fully get over it and it will fade into obscurity once the effects are out of date.

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