Notes on Avatar

Just a few brief notes to add to the chorus that’s singing praises in harmony with Avatar’s tremendous hype:

1. This film is beautiful inside and out. I love it so much that I don't care how cheesy saying that makes me sound.

2. I spoke with Gabe about this (so credit to him for bringing up this point), but the whole notion that a native people needs the help of an outside white man so that it can continue existing is at least worthy of examination. I don’t have too much of a problem with this, since Jake Sully's ostensible value to the Na'vi people is not his culture or skin color, but his knowledge of his co-workers’ plans to destroy monuments key to their culture. More problematic, though, is how good of an Na’vi is proves to be while inhabiting his avatar. His greatest achievement is harnessing a giant bird of prey (a Turok) that no one else can, thus inspiring reverential bowing amongst the Na’vi when he shows up on the back of it. At this point, he hasn’t just assimilated into these people, he’s won the videogame of their culture. This bothered me less than perhaps it should have partially because of how Dune-esque it was (it was Paul riding the sandworm all over again). Can’t be mad at Dune-esque, sorry. But at that point, I was so invested in the advancement of this people that I wanted their well-being by any means necessary, by hook or by white dude. Clearly, as people so tied to their world that they have formed a sort of spiritual network with it, and still have it, period  (unlike humans in 2154, as posited by Avatar), they are the superior race, if we’re laying it out like that. Yes, Jake Sully harnessed the ride and he did it well, but wasn't it ultimately on the Na'vi's coattails? 

3. As something that took James Cameron basically 15 years to make (he wrote the Avatar script in 1994), this hyper-futuristic, technological fantasia is old-fashioned in its own way. It’s about as antithetical as movies get to the get-it-done-do-it-cheap ethic of today. Furthermore, as someone who often gets 24 hours to a week (tops!) to really think about something, I felt like this movie was a fireworks display of a reminder of the worth in slow-cooking and taking time to get it right. I hope it proves to be as inspiring as I think it is.

4. I'm seeing this again (in 3-D IMAX again) tomorrow night. Follow suit or be jealous.

Comments

[jeremy]

Thought it was almost entertaining, but there was something that held me back from the wonder of it all. For such a fully realized world (in 3d no less) I was never swept up in it (blame it on the by-the-numbers script).
Also, why did the robot fall down when Mr. Claw-mark face died? It was standing before he was even in it.

[Miranda]

Dune + Fern Gully = Avatar

[NO]

Um, WHERE THE FUCK is your lady gaga post? i've been coming here to look for it every day after you teased us with it, and I'm usually just here for ANTM.

[NO]

lol that was bitchier than I meant.

[Wookie]

I thought the plot was mediocre at best. I mean, it was essentially Pocahontas with aliens. The visuals, however, were out of this world and totally made up for it.

[Megaroni]

I'm going to see it tonight in 3D. EXCITEMENT. I'll read this review when I return.

[kccody]

Rich- I saw it last night and really enjoyed it also. The plot was fine, but the colors and special effects were fab!

[Miss Lisa]

It was slowly cooked in the Crock-Pot® of James Cameron's mind. Not sure I want to go there for more than a few hours, but I can take that in smallish doses if it looks pretty in 3D. NY Times also raved with slight reservations. Sounds about right.

[Jim]

Ugh. I hated this movie so much. Yeah, it's technically impressive, but the story is familiar, the dialogue embarrassing, the characters cardboard thin, and any sense of logic seems to have been lost in the magical jungle.

I think the "Dune + Ferngully" comment is pretty close, but I actually would call it Dances with Wolves + Ferngully. The point is, you've seen it all before. It just wasn't as shiny.

James Cameron is a technical mastermind, but he hasn't told a good story since The Terminator (and yes, I absolutely include Titanic in that).

[Monkey]

Saw it yesterday, in 3D- and was in love. My heart was pounding with the thrill. My two cents- what about the call for the need of accessible healthcare? Sully agrees to exploit the Na'vi people so he can gain access
to the healthcare needed to regain the use of his legs.

[kityglitr]

I totally agree with you Rich. I thought I would be bothered by the white man leading the native peoples thing... but he didn't really lead them. After he rides Turok, he sort of genuflects to their chief (well, the dude who becomes chief sort of quickly when old chief dies) and makes it very clear he's not in it to become their leader.

[k]

I thought it was inspired by Princess Mononoke (and Nausicaa, for that matter) to a crazy degree. The part where Sigourney Weaver's character is laying at the base of the tree and they're trying to heal her felt, like, lifted from Mononoke.

So, I'd say Dune + Princess Mononoke = Avatar, FWIW.

[Lauren]

I, for one, really really loved the bio-luminescent forest and the beautifully imaginative creatures. The trees with their ghostly tendrils were stunning. Plus, as someone who really loves cats, I adored how cat-like the Na'vi were with their bright, potent eyes. I kept thinking how fun it would be to stroke Jake Sully's Avatar's nose.

My biggest grip was how smudgy the 3D glasses seemed even after multiple wipings. Someone needs to invent high-tech super-clear 3D glasses!

[Miranda]

I'd like to amend my equation.
(Dune + Fern Gully + Dances with Wolves + Pocahontas + Princess Mononoke/ Naussica) Furries = Avatar

[Joe]

My boss and her husband saw it in Imax 3D this weekend and they said it was GORGEOUSLY filmed but her husband said it was like looking at a 3 hour video game. I'm just glad I don't have to see twatalina doing her back flips anymore...

[Reese]

I saw it on my first viewing in 3D IMAX, so you're late to the party Rich.

Anyways, I thought this was a beautiful movie. Simple plot, but I was taken by how gorgeous the planet was, how beautiful (and huge!) the Navi were, and wonderful their connection was to their environment.

I just loved looking at this movie. It was like chocolate for my eyes.

[Kim]

I second NO's GaGa request ... I too have been checking your site daily for the review! We eagerly await your words of wisdom, Rich!

[Dan]

I third the Gaga request. Not that I haven't been enjoying everything you've been posting, but since the "Bad Romance" video the Gaga obsession has kick in HARDCORE around these here parts and you're pretty much the most insightful person I've read about Gaga. so... early Xmas present? or late Xmas present? Presidents' Day present?

[Golden J]

Look, we can literally play "spot the references" all day with this movie or basically ANY other movie, ever. (Or anyone making music, for that matter.) But who cares? If there's a problem with this movie, it's not that it borrows from several other movies.

I, for one, loved it. Maybe I just had low expectations for the dialogue anyway, but none of it seemed problematic to me. The visuals were breathtaking, even to the point that I wanted to cry. It was just so gorgeous. And the story was fun, well-paced, and as believable as this genre (space western war love story) can be.

I even wanted to see more Na'vi sex. And Sam Worthington (the man, not just the avatar) has gorgeous eyes.

Also, Jim, "technically impressive" is the understatement of the century. This made Transformers look like Jaws.

Finally, speaking of game-changers, I'd just like to say YES please talk about Gaga!

[Megaroni]

Watched it last night in 3D. It was extraordinarily beautiful! But, some parts in the story were a little lacking a little cheesy. But all in all a great film.
There was a line that Jake said something like.. "They're going to come. Like rain that never stops."
I don't know.. call me immature but I just busted out laughing.

[sean]

And the 3D glasses? Designed by...? Can I rock 'em?

[Robert]

I don't have an issue with the white man saving the native culture. The only reason he's alive to save them is that the daughter of the village leader saved him from certain death and received a sign that their god wanted him there. Ostensibly, he's a child of their race because he knows nothing of the culture but can assume the form of them. He is a Na'vi and as a Na'vi he had a responsibility to save his people. His only loyalty with humans was the military, which he realized should have had nothing to do with the native people. Also, pretty sure it's more the god's will that plays a role in the whole film than a singular white hero.

I, too, will be seeing it again, but not in IMAX 3-D this time. My brother refuses to wear his glasses to go see a 3-D film and his new contact prescription is so overly-corrective it stops him from experiencing 3-D. Which means I'll have to see it a third time on my own.

[Golden J]

For some reason, the theater near me was only showing it 2-D on IMAX, and 3-D on regular screens. This pissed me off, but I chose to go with 3-D/regular for my first viewing. Hopefully next time I'll get to combine the two.

[kiki]

Mirand and K you both had me cracking up with the math equations. I'd forgotten all about Fern Gully!!!!

[Michelle]

Astute observation RE: the Sandworm ... and I totally agree, you can't be mad at Dune-esque.