AVATAR RANT! (my first post in a long, long time)

[alibaster_fog]

So Jake Sully's entire motivation as a character is that he wants his legs back. In fact that's not just his entire motivation, it's his entire character: period. What else do we know about that guy besides the fact that he wants his legs back. Nothing. I mean... I guess we know that he's sad that his brother is dead. But is his borther ever

Comments

[alibaster_fog]

But you were right to freak out over The Matrix ten years ago. When we were kids it was appropriate to go see a movie soley for the effects because with every major film came a major break through. We were always left asking "how did they do that". Now when we ask that question the answer is always the same: "computers". Yes, as we move forward the technology gets better but seeing a technique improved does not offer the same visceral thrill as seeing it used for the first time. I'll concede that Cameron uses his computers and his motion capture suits to truly stunning effect. But in the end; who cares? A year or two for now someone will use the same effects to make a better movie with a better story. I don't need to sit in the theater and pretend that Avatar is the be all and end all of special effects. It's just one more step down the road.

And you know what... I don't really think it was that big of a step anyway. Personally I don't see his use of motion capture as anything better than what Peter Jackson accomplished in LOTR or KING KONG. The blue cat people may look more photo-realistic but they're no where near as emotive as Gollum or Kong. And when it comes to use of 3D I think Zemeckis has him beat by a long shot. And finally... all he did was create a fucking jungle... a very pretty jungle to be sure... but it's just a fucking jungle. It's not the most amazing movie environment I've ever seen. It's not like he created Middle Earth. It's not like he even created Tron. He created a jungle and I've seen plenty of those on film before. And then he populated it with boring humans and boring blue cat people. What am I supposed to be freaking out about?

Point is: you're not missing anyhting. Special Effect Events don't happen anymore. Special effects plateaued a long time ago. I still believe in their power to wow a person and take them to incredible places. But not unless they're in the service of a great story. And Avatar has shit where its story is supposed to be.

I am jealous that you got to see Antichrist on the big screen. Work prevented me from seeing it during it's two week run in LA. Guess I'll have to settle for seeing Dafoe's bloody cum on my tv.