So. Avatar. Thoughts
It doesn't break any new ground in scifi, or in action movies, or in any movie genre for that matter* - but I LIKED it!
*Solely in terms of the story, not regarding technical aspects
1. It sounds terribly shallow of me to say 'go see this movie because its visuals are stunning', but really: go see this movie because its visuals are stunning. Take the colors that you see on the balloons of 'Up' and multiply that by a hundred--that's what you get in Avatar. Wherever Navi-Jake went, it blew my mind away--whether it was up in the floating mountains, or by the sea, or up in a tree. My favorite has to be when he's running through the 'glow and dark' plants...I want plants like that!
2. Sam Worthington. Excuse my fangirly drooling. Although I noticed when his Australian accent crept in, which is never a bad thing in my opinion. Probably for the best.
3. James Cameron totally wrote this script during the height of the Bush era. "Shock and awe"? "Preemptive strike"? None-too-subtle commentary there.
4. The native/tribalism aspects were kind of uncomfortable for me. Take all the indigenous cultures that have been known to man, slap them on a different planet, and call them Navi. Who believe in a "Mother Earth"-like deity; who believe in a balance with nature, blah blah blah. I mean, can't you come up with something new about an indigenous population other than they're in tune with nature? A more provocative opinion can be found here, which I have to think about some more.
5. The romance was sweet...but it was on the iffy side. One minute she's calling him a moron, and then the next "oh hey, you can ride a flying beastie...me thinks I like you." Cheesiness aside, I did love the scene when she finally comes face to face with his human self. That's when Cameron's screenwriting works best--when characters don't really talk.
6. Why does Michelle Rodriguez always play badass, gun-toting characters? It's like she wants to corner Angelina Jolie's market.
7. My friend Jackie joked that all that was missing from the movie was a "Colors of the Wind" sing and dance number.
8. The battle scenes really stretched their believability, which I guess is the point in a "David vs. Goliath" type battle - but still. The fact that all the beasties of Pandora had to come together to rescue the Navi was a bit much - and a copout!
9. Although Avatar has a happier ending, Titanic is still my favorite James Cameron movie. Jake and Neytiri (sp?) have nothing on Jack and Rose, sorry.
10. I love how the central line of the movie - "I see you" - can also double as a pick-up line. If I ever come stumble across Sam Worthington in real life, you betcha that's what I'm going to yell!
P.S. This is solely for dunemanic: I thought James Cameron also stole from Dune, in that the helicopter things look like 'thopters.
*Solely in terms of the story, not regarding technical aspects
1. It sounds terribly shallow of me to say 'go see this movie because its visuals are stunning', but really: go see this movie because its visuals are stunning. Take the colors that you see on the balloons of 'Up' and multiply that by a hundred--that's what you get in Avatar. Wherever Navi-Jake went, it blew my mind away--whether it was up in the floating mountains, or by the sea, or up in a tree. My favorite has to be when he's running through the 'glow and dark' plants...I want plants like that!
2. Sam Worthington. Excuse my fangirly drooling. Although I noticed when his Australian accent crept in, which is never a bad thing in my opinion. Probably for the best.
3. James Cameron totally wrote this script during the height of the Bush era. "Shock and awe"? "Preemptive strike"? None-too-subtle commentary there.
4. The native/tribalism aspects were kind of uncomfortable for me. Take all the indigenous cultures that have been known to man, slap them on a different planet, and call them Navi. Who believe in a "Mother Earth"-like deity; who believe in a balance with nature, blah blah blah. I mean, can't you come up with something new about an indigenous population other than they're in tune with nature? A more provocative opinion can be found here, which I have to think about some more.
5. The romance was sweet...but it was on the iffy side. One minute she's calling him a moron, and then the next "oh hey, you can ride a flying beastie...me thinks I like you." Cheesiness aside, I did love the scene when she finally comes face to face with his human self. That's when Cameron's screenwriting works best--when characters don't really talk.
6. Why does Michelle Rodriguez always play badass, gun-toting characters? It's like she wants to corner Angelina Jolie's market.
7. My friend Jackie joked that all that was missing from the movie was a "Colors of the Wind" sing and dance number.
8. The battle scenes really stretched their believability, which I guess is the point in a "David vs. Goliath" type battle - but still. The fact that all the beasties of Pandora had to come together to rescue the Navi was a bit much - and a copout!
9. Although Avatar has a happier ending, Titanic is still my favorite James Cameron movie. Jake and Neytiri (sp?) have nothing on Jack and Rose, sorry.
10. I love how the central line of the movie - "I see you" - can also double as a pick-up line. If I ever come stumble across Sam Worthington in real life, you betcha that's what I'm going to yell!
P.S. This is solely for dunemanic: I thought James Cameron also stole from Dune, in that the helicopter things look like 'thopters.