About a month or so ago, I saw Avatar. This movie was supposed to be one of the greatest movies of all time, a movie that would “redifine movie making forever”. I thought just the opposite.
First off, Avatar is completely mindless. The story is painfully simplistic, revolving around a simple “Army bad, Na’vi good” formula with no ambiguity on the topic whatsoever. The 3 or 4 protaginists are the only humans who aren’t portrayed as mindless, evil drones. The Na’vi (the indiginous inhabitants of the planet “Pandora” where the movie takes place) bear a none-too-suttle resembelance to the Indians of North America. The story isn’t worth explaining in full, but basically, its the battle of Little Bighorn except this time, the Indians win. The ending is perhaps the biggest copout, none of the protaginists die execpt for Sigourney Weaver’s character (who was minor at best). You would think that the director who let Jack die at the end of “Titanic” might make a movie with a little less predictable of an ending.
I will grant “Avatar” that it does look good, but all it comes out in being a cacophony of explosions and sexuality. If those are the reasons for which you watch these kinds of movies, why don’t you go for the best of both worlds and buy firecrackers and porn? I don’t really mind the tree-hugging message of the movie, but it hardly adds to it.
I put this movie in the same abysmal class as Transformers 2. The movie can’t accomplish anthing beyond looking good. This movie didn’t revolutionize movie making, it set it back.
