Avatar was OK, but I have more than a few complaints

I’m going to start my review by stating that I DID enjoy the movie. It entertained me for three hours. I’ll also say that I really enjoyed the well thought out world of Pandora and the creatures that populated that world. The way that the Na’vi could connect with the creatures was not only awesome but was a reflection of the “sky people” (humans) mech technology. In a way, both civilizations had similar tech, but one was mechanical and the other was biological. All good. But that’s where my praise for the movie ends.

Was it in my top ten movies of the year? Yes. Top ten all time? Not even close. Probably towards the back side of the top 100. Why?

1) 3D. For me this always has been, and will most likely always be, a gimmick. It’s similar to the early 90’s in comic books when they put different holograms on the covers. Ohhh, 3D! I need them all. But they provided no real value to the story within or my overall enjoyment of the book. I went into Avatar with an open mind but found the 3D experience added nothing to the movie. In fact, more often than not, it distracted me from it. Many things didn’t look right to me. My eyes bugged out for about the first twenty minutes. I’ve heard a lot of “but you get used to it after a while.” The problem with that is I don’t want to go see movies I have to get used to. I want to sit down, clear my mind and enjoy.

The result of the 3D was a headache and tense eyes until I went to bed. I will say there were a few scenes where I thought, “Okay, that looks pretty cool,” but for the cost to make this film and all the hype, it should have been so much more. I found the visuals in 300 to be far more stunning than in Avatar. I will most likely watch Avatar again, in 2D and compare the experience—see if I lose anything. I’m hoping that the new rash of 3D gimmickry will die out like the 1980’s explosion. I will most likely go see future movies in 2D, regardless of they hype, until some kind of new tech comes along.

2) The plot. I feel it suffered in part because of the aforementioned gimmickry. Too much attention was paid to the tech and not enough to the story. It’s extremely predictable (which I had determined before seeing it, so I wasn’t overly disappointed, but I wasn’t happily surprised either). Here’s how I picture the Hollywood pitch session,

Cameron: Picture this, Fern Gully meets Dances with Wolves!

Exec: Hmm, I don’t know...Didn’t we see that in Pathfinder too?

Cameron: Yes! But here, the Vikings are ‘Sky People’ and the Native Americans—the savages—are Na’vi. Frikken Blue Aliens!

Exec: So, you’re saying this is like Pocahontas with aliens?

Cameron: Blue aliens. But yes, exactly like Pocahontas.

Exec: Tarzan?

Cameron: If Jane is a dude and Tarzan is a blue alien, then yes.

Exec: Jungle Book?

Cameron: Yup.

Exec: Dune?

Cameron: Nail. On. The. Head.

Exec: I don’t know... You’re saying that this plot has been done before?

Cameron: Almost yearly. But the combined earnings from those movies nearly equal my proposed budget.

Exec: Wow, that’s a crap load of money!

Cameron: I know! Listen, you’ve financed this exact same story twice already and both were box office successes. You can’t lose.

Exec: Still...

Cameron: Tatanka!

Exec: Sold!

Seriously. We’ve seen the majority of this movie before, several times. And the plot points that weren’t in those other movies (because they weren’t on another planet—well, Dune WAS and the similarities are painful) were still predictable. I should point out that I enjoyed Avatar far more than Dances with Wolves, Fern Gully and Pocahontas. Pathfinder is a close call. Dune is better.

3) Failed to stir any kind of emotional response. It was fun. But that’s all. I wasn’t once scared. I don’t recall laughing. I didn’t get tense or excited. Nor did I get sad. For me to really consider a movie something special, it really needs to evoke some kind of emotional response in me. This one failed to do so. It was fun in the way that the recent rash of super hero movies are fun. I’d watch it again. I’ll probably buy the DVD. But it was nothing special.

I think the focus on the tech killed this for me, dulled the story and the action. I’m far from a Cameron hater. In fact, he’s been a huge influence on me. But I think when his budget was more limited and he had to innovate or die (not go overboard) he did better.

If you’re curious as to what my all time top ten movies (in no particular order) actually are, here you go:

1. Signs
2. Jaws
3. Aliens (extended edition)
4. The Abyss (director’s cut is unbelievable)
5. The Matrix (1st film)
6. Lord of the Rings (trilogy, uncut)
7. 300
8. Jurassic Park (the first)
9. Shaun of the Dead
10. Star Trek: Wrath of Khan

Runners up: E.T., Close Encounters, Star Wars (3 – 6), Indiana Jones (1 & 2), Ghostbusters, Gladiator and The Three Amigos

-- Jeremy Robinson
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com

Okay, so ThinkHero.com is a website I frequent for reviews of my favorite (sci-fi, horror, super hero) movies, TV shows, video games, etc...but they had never done a novel before. So, naturally, I suggested it and they agreed. The book was read and reviewed by Beckett, who I now know has exceptional taste. Thanks to Beckett and Dennis at ThinkHero for making this happen.