[Movies] Avatar
Last night, I saw Avatar in 3D with swiftfoxfire, vu1pes, and kelbypup and I have a confession to make that I have the sneaking suspicion will have half of my friends list up in arms...
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I didn't think it was that great a movie.
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In fairness, I'm reserving the full weight of my judgment until I've had the chance to see it again--perhaps in 2D--to get a chance to pick up some nuances that I might have missed.
Don't get me wrong, though. I still considered the visuals to be executed near-flawlessly. In fact, I only say "near" because nothing is perfect; those things considered "perfect" have only not yet revealed their flaws. [And, I didn't perceive any flaws in the movie's visuals in that viewing.] Further, the avatar concept is fascinating. As a former study of astral projection (and a man drawn to Eastern philosophy), I've encountered those who have written of the process of going to sleep and dreaming as connecting to another version of themselves in another life. [And with the dreams I have had, sometimes that would be the more sensible explanation to the imagery I've captured]. So, I've seen this sort of thing before and have no hang-ups whatsoever on the concept. Even further, I wasn't much perturbed by the whole 'the greed of the corporation, destroying nature for money' angle. In fact, I was perhaps the only one of the group not to have had that be such a strong message coming out of the theater; I think it's a combination of having been desensitized, with some preaching to the choir thrown in.
No, of everything that the movie presented, I have to say that what still bugs me to this morning, what kind of ruined the movie for me, was the cultural design of the Na'vi and how that played to the plot. It's almost too vague to put a finger on it, but I guess it's the whole image of the Na'vi as a people: the clothing and hair, the speech, the ululations and hisses, the devotion to the land, the clan-based organization. Americans (since I didn't catch anyone speaking English with anything other than some American accent) had traveled across space and time to find some amalgamation of their historical Native Americans. I'm sure this was by design, not only to convey the idea that the universe is small, but also to reinforce the message of the evils of destroying the land.
But, this has the consequence of making me feel like I just watched "Dances with Wolves", only on another planet. [I am evidently not the first person to make that observation, however, as a search for the two movie titles together reveals even James Cameron making that observation.] I might, however, forgive that if it were not also for (what I perceived as) the overabundance of conflict in the movie. As someone (over-)sensitive to conflict, I'm often irked by how a writer will introduce conflict into a story at a point in which it is superfluous or excessive. That the main protagonist had to gain the trust of the Na'vi not once, but twice--because, you know, trust by a people so well connected to their entire history through the planet is so easily lost--I thought crossed that line into excessive. I will hold off saying more about the conflict points, lest I stray into true spoiler territory. But, suffice it to say, there was a point in the movie that I wished James Cameron would have just left well enough alone.
All that said, I still recommend seeing it. You have seen and will see many more worse movies than this one, and it's worth giving Avatar a try. Just don't feel bad if you--like this jaded, old, and bitter dragon--don't walk out of the theater thinking this was the greatest movie of all time.
...
I didn't think it was that great a movie.
...
In fairness, I'm reserving the full weight of my judgment until I've had the chance to see it again--perhaps in 2D--to get a chance to pick up some nuances that I might have missed.
Don't get me wrong, though. I still considered the visuals to be executed near-flawlessly. In fact, I only say "near" because nothing is perfect; those things considered "perfect" have only not yet revealed their flaws. [And, I didn't perceive any flaws in the movie's visuals in that viewing.] Further, the avatar concept is fascinating. As a former study of astral projection (and a man drawn to Eastern philosophy), I've encountered those who have written of the process of going to sleep and dreaming as connecting to another version of themselves in another life. [And with the dreams I have had, sometimes that would be the more sensible explanation to the imagery I've captured]. So, I've seen this sort of thing before and have no hang-ups whatsoever on the concept. Even further, I wasn't much perturbed by the whole 'the greed of the corporation, destroying nature for money' angle. In fact, I was perhaps the only one of the group not to have had that be such a strong message coming out of the theater; I think it's a combination of having been desensitized, with some preaching to the choir thrown in.
No, of everything that the movie presented, I have to say that what still bugs me to this morning, what kind of ruined the movie for me, was the cultural design of the Na'vi and how that played to the plot. It's almost too vague to put a finger on it, but I guess it's the whole image of the Na'vi as a people: the clothing and hair, the speech, the ululations and hisses, the devotion to the land, the clan-based organization. Americans (since I didn't catch anyone speaking English with anything other than some American accent) had traveled across space and time to find some amalgamation of their historical Native Americans. I'm sure this was by design, not only to convey the idea that the universe is small, but also to reinforce the message of the evils of destroying the land.
But, this has the consequence of making me feel like I just watched "Dances with Wolves", only on another planet. [I am evidently not the first person to make that observation, however, as a search for the two movie titles together reveals even James Cameron making that observation.] I might, however, forgive that if it were not also for (what I perceived as) the overabundance of conflict in the movie. As someone (over-)sensitive to conflict, I'm often irked by how a writer will introduce conflict into a story at a point in which it is superfluous or excessive. That the main protagonist had to gain the trust of the Na'vi not once, but twice--because, you know, trust by a people so well connected to their entire history through the planet is so easily lost--I thought crossed that line into excessive. I will hold off saying more about the conflict points, lest I stray into true spoiler territory. But, suffice it to say, there was a point in the movie that I wished James Cameron would have just left well enough alone.
All that said, I still recommend seeing it. You have seen and will see many more worse movies than this one, and it's worth giving Avatar a try. Just don't feel bad if you--like this jaded, old, and bitter dragon--don't walk out of the theater thinking this was the greatest movie of all time.