Avatar
So I finally got a chance to see Avatar (You know, "that movie by 'The Terminator Guy' with all those blue people and the chick from Aliens") and I gotta say I was impressed...
at first.
Well, okay, first things first. Let's address what this movie is: a spectacle. And an eye-bogglingly magnificent one at that. Giant mechanized robots tear through the jungle and are blown up. Giant futuristic hovercrafts fly overhead, dropping bombs on things before they themselves are blown up. Giant flashy-looking futuristic devices are used in virtually every scene: some of them are blown up. Giant, graceful, wide-eyed extraterrestrials fight each other, befriend one another, fight again, then get their alien freak on before the humans arrive and blow things up. It's great.
But there are a few moments where the brilliance of the as-of-date costliest film ever made comes crashing back toward mediocrity. (and here the spoilers begin, so if you haven't seen the movie consider yourself warned.)
First: allegory. (Or as I sometimes call it- "Politics.) I try to turn a blind eye to these sort of things in movies, I honestly do. Yes, Gandalf sacrifices himself for the good of others and returns from the dead, but that doesn't make him Jesus. Yes, Neo sacrifices himself for the good of others and dies in a disappointing climax, but that doesn't make him a poorly written and sloppily executed (hah!) Jesus. But here's the thing! When the head military leader of the totalitarian and money-grubbing humans declares war on the peace-loving, tree-hugging, horse-probing locals, he declares that he will "fight terror with terror" by mounting a massive "shock and awe" attack upon their homeland. Those are the words he uses! You may as well just name the villain of the story "Shmorge W. Smush" Seriously, James, regardless of your political affiliations and opinions, can we leave the agenda at home? I'm here to see a movie not justify by proxy my outrage at the war in Iraq.
Speaking of, that brings me to my next gripe: Polarization. The movie begins with an interesting and complex political situation involving the language and culture barriers between two alien races. Humans, being scattered from their dying planet come to Pandora in search of the minerals necessary to keep their economy alive. The indigenous Na'vi are pressed between acceptance of the strange newcomers and the growing resentments of xenophobia.
Intrigues and conflicts hang in the air between and among the two factions, but don't let that peak your interest 'cuz the atmosphere doesn't last long! Worry not friends, for the entire plot quickly degrades into a black-and-white, us-verses-them grudge match between the pure, enlightened Na'vi and the money-grubbing, cruel and barbaric humans. It's "Dances with Wolves" all over again, only this time we get the ending we want: The natives rally together, and with the aid of planet itself, they drive away the evil white men forever.
Well, fine, and maybe it's just me but a few things in the movie just don't add up.
First, I felt that the sniveling bureaucrat in charge of the entire operation loses his brain halfway through the movie. He abandoned the careful and strategic approach toward the mother payload practically on a whim.
-"Yeah, screw the billions of dollars we've spent gathering the most sophisticated and intelligent research team to the far reaches of the universe to help us. In fact, let's not even listen to anything they say. Plow down the forest and slaughter the dirt-worshiping heathens, why not?"
LOOK, I don't mind the CEO of a major company being greedy and soulless, in fact I'm used that. I just don't believe that he'd be such an idiot. I mean, seriously, with everything the company invested in the Avatar project you can't POSSIBLY expect me to believe that the top executive would, in the course of two days, disregard everything his research team is trying to explain to him upon the whim of his sadistic chief security officer. And Why? Cuz an Avatar smashed the headlights of a bulldozer while it was leveling a forest. Even the most greedy man on the planet has more common sense then to simply annihilate the most sacred place his enemy flocks to. Why? Cuz it doesn't make your enemy run away, it just PISSES THEM OFF.
This is the point I'm getting at: sloppy escalation of conflict. Instead of building conflict by making the situation more complex, James Cameron makes it easy for us. Instead of asking "How do we make contact with this alien race?" both sides just start chanting "If we kill enough of them they will all just go away." So when the ending came I just said "Well, there's no happily ever after here! No matter who wins or loses, who's right or wrong, there are plenty more people out there ready and willing to come and kill you." So enjoy your soul-transferring ritual Jake, cuz if this were a realistic movie the company is heading your way to carpet bomb the whole continent from orbit...
Oh, and one last thing: Flying mountains. MOUNTAINS DON'T FLY!! Space travel, psychic projections, futuristic weapons, fine. But giant hunks of rock that ignore gravity is NOT OKAY!!! Is it anti-gravity? Is it magnetism on a giant scale? If that's the case, why is there still gravity for the creatures crawling all over them?! The movie spends plenty of time explaining the mechanisms of how a network of tree roots could theoretically create the synapses of a collosal conciousness but it won't tell me why the MOUNTAINS ARE FLYING!!
ANYway, Avatar is a great movie. But, sorry Mr. Cameron, not one of THE great movies.
at first.
Well, okay, first things first. Let's address what this movie is: a spectacle. And an eye-bogglingly magnificent one at that. Giant mechanized robots tear through the jungle and are blown up. Giant futuristic hovercrafts fly overhead, dropping bombs on things before they themselves are blown up. Giant flashy-looking futuristic devices are used in virtually every scene: some of them are blown up. Giant, graceful, wide-eyed extraterrestrials fight each other, befriend one another, fight again, then get their alien freak on before the humans arrive and blow things up. It's great.
But there are a few moments where the brilliance of the as-of-date costliest film ever made comes crashing back toward mediocrity. (and here the spoilers begin, so if you haven't seen the movie consider yourself warned.)
First: allegory. (Or as I sometimes call it- "Politics.) I try to turn a blind eye to these sort of things in movies, I honestly do. Yes, Gandalf sacrifices himself for the good of others and returns from the dead, but that doesn't make him Jesus. Yes, Neo sacrifices himself for the good of others and dies in a disappointing climax, but that doesn't make him a poorly written and sloppily executed (hah!) Jesus. But here's the thing! When the head military leader of the totalitarian and money-grubbing humans declares war on the peace-loving, tree-hugging, horse-probing locals, he declares that he will "fight terror with terror" by mounting a massive "shock and awe" attack upon their homeland. Those are the words he uses! You may as well just name the villain of the story "Shmorge W. Smush" Seriously, James, regardless of your political affiliations and opinions, can we leave the agenda at home? I'm here to see a movie not justify by proxy my outrage at the war in Iraq.
Speaking of, that brings me to my next gripe: Polarization. The movie begins with an interesting and complex political situation involving the language and culture barriers between two alien races. Humans, being scattered from their dying planet come to Pandora in search of the minerals necessary to keep their economy alive. The indigenous Na'vi are pressed between acceptance of the strange newcomers and the growing resentments of xenophobia.
Intrigues and conflicts hang in the air between and among the two factions, but don't let that peak your interest 'cuz the atmosphere doesn't last long! Worry not friends, for the entire plot quickly degrades into a black-and-white, us-verses-them grudge match between the pure, enlightened Na'vi and the money-grubbing, cruel and barbaric humans. It's "Dances with Wolves" all over again, only this time we get the ending we want: The natives rally together, and with the aid of planet itself, they drive away the evil white men forever.
Well, fine, and maybe it's just me but a few things in the movie just don't add up.
First, I felt that the sniveling bureaucrat in charge of the entire operation loses his brain halfway through the movie. He abandoned the careful and strategic approach toward the mother payload practically on a whim.
-"Yeah, screw the billions of dollars we've spent gathering the most sophisticated and intelligent research team to the far reaches of the universe to help us. In fact, let's not even listen to anything they say. Plow down the forest and slaughter the dirt-worshiping heathens, why not?"
LOOK, I don't mind the CEO of a major company being greedy and soulless, in fact I'm used that. I just don't believe that he'd be such an idiot. I mean, seriously, with everything the company invested in the Avatar project you can't POSSIBLY expect me to believe that the top executive would, in the course of two days, disregard everything his research team is trying to explain to him upon the whim of his sadistic chief security officer. And Why? Cuz an Avatar smashed the headlights of a bulldozer while it was leveling a forest. Even the most greedy man on the planet has more common sense then to simply annihilate the most sacred place his enemy flocks to. Why? Cuz it doesn't make your enemy run away, it just PISSES THEM OFF.
This is the point I'm getting at: sloppy escalation of conflict. Instead of building conflict by making the situation more complex, James Cameron makes it easy for us. Instead of asking "How do we make contact with this alien race?" both sides just start chanting "If we kill enough of them they will all just go away." So when the ending came I just said "Well, there's no happily ever after here! No matter who wins or loses, who's right or wrong, there are plenty more people out there ready and willing to come and kill you." So enjoy your soul-transferring ritual Jake, cuz if this were a realistic movie the company is heading your way to carpet bomb the whole continent from orbit...
Oh, and one last thing: Flying mountains. MOUNTAINS DON'T FLY!! Space travel, psychic projections, futuristic weapons, fine. But giant hunks of rock that ignore gravity is NOT OKAY!!! Is it anti-gravity? Is it magnetism on a giant scale? If that's the case, why is there still gravity for the creatures crawling all over them?! The movie spends plenty of time explaining the mechanisms of how a network of tree roots could theoretically create the synapses of a collosal conciousness but it won't tell me why the MOUNTAINS ARE FLYING!!
ANYway, Avatar is a great movie. But, sorry Mr. Cameron, not one of THE great movies.