...directed by James Cameron.
You have to see this movie.
And you have to see it in3D at Imax.
Not necessarily because it is a stunning movie, but because it is a stunning technical achievement.
The opening sequences caused gasps of awe and wonder from the packed audience who attended at 8.30pm last Tuesday, and at the end of the movie the audience applauded (I know this seems very silly on one level, but it felt like the right thing to do!).
The movie is one of those cutting-edge, breakthrough phenomena.
As to the movie itself....
One never really escapes from the overwhelming power of the visuals...
James Cameron tells a good yarn, and there are strong performances within fairly defined roles by Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver (still building relationships with aliens!) and the "blue girl" with the interesting (lack of) costume.
The plot is formulaic, however - Pocahontas set in outer space.
Once you've been introduced to the characters, you know which way the story's going to go...
I got the feeling that Cameron, having spent the equivalent of NZ's GDP several times over to make the movie (and having contributed in fact to the GDP by his use of Weta Inc. for so many things in the FX department), had to have a plot that Americans, in general, would "buy into".
Here's the hero, the love interest (albeit blue and gigantic), the jealous rival, the monsters, the mystic rituals (very much like the sloth dances in Ice Age II, I'm afraid), the baddie, the environmental theme (if only the Americans would take climate change seriously and put their money where their mouths are - no offence to my American friends!!) and, of course, the EXPLOSIONS!!
The music, by James Horner (Titanic), is also by-the-numbers (could have used a John Williams or Howard Shore score and saved money) heroic music, baddie music, love music, ethereal mystery music and the now-obligatory Vedic/Gregorian chanting to denote New Age spirituality - the end song, "I See You" (the catchphrase used by Pandoreans to acknowledge other living creatures who have died or with whom they are about to mate - also Sauron's catchphrase in Lord of the Rings) is appallingly mawkish, and should be left off the DVD release of the movie.
Impressive: visual effects, cinematography and Ms Weaver.
Unimpressive: plot, characters and soundtrack.
I would go and see it again, but probably with my ears plugged into some Beethoven or Dvorak.
6/10.
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"the mystic rituals (very much like the sloth dances in Ice Age II, I'm afraid)"
ReplyDeleteLOL. Having now seen it, I see what you mean.
It's a pity the music helped let it down for you. I think its main failing was in development of motives. Why were the company and military personnel so keen on killing the natives? Reading between the lines I presume it's because Earth is so dead they're absolutely desperate for Pandora's resources.
As for any further character development (admittedly lacking - Jake Sully probably won't be remembered as the Luke Skywalker of this generation), have you considered that it was the movie as a whole that was developed, not the individual characters within it? That actually fits with the connectedness of life on Pandora. (On that subject, did you get far enough into the Isaac Asimov's Foundation books to see the similarity with a certain planet there?)
There was a lot of pretty obvious telegraphing. I suppose it made for a slightly shallower movie, but how else would you introduce a viewer to a whole world?
Apart from that, why did the colonel's machine fall over when he died? Surely it would have just kept standing there. It would be a pig of a machine to operate if it couldn't balance itself.
But forget DVD and go straight to BD - it's the right aspect ratio, too! It's one impressive movie.
Could it be that once we get past being totally impressed with the impressiveness of the movie we might find better characters supporting the scenery? Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think it will significantly. The movie creates a world, and it's a world that is able to stand independently of the characterisations of the people used to introduce the world (which is what I said originally) even if doing so makes it low brow, easy entertainment, and popularist.
ReplyDeleteYes, the major (considerable) achievement of the movie is creating a whole world.
ReplyDeleteI will need to steal your Foundation books (one by one) some time - the library doesn't get them in in correct order.
A guy in a forum I regularly post in is convinced Avatar is not science fiction at all but fantasy instead, because there are dragons, an elf forest, etc. The space ships and the scientific (or science fictionic) explanations for everything apparently don't necessarily have any significance at all.
ReplyDeleteAn elf forest?
ReplyDeleteI guess it doesn't really matter what category it's put into, in fact it would be unique to defy a category.
Novels are similar - some would classify Atwood's last 2 as sci-fi, some as dystopic...
What really counts I reckon is, are the stories any good?
(I wonder if there is a Mills and Boon sci-fi line?).
Pop music is similar too - some of us love having slots for the music to fit into, and others don't at all.
Unquestioned constructs.
What makes the world go round...
Yeah, I guess some people would call Avatar a romance, not science fiction, not fantasy.
ReplyDelete...and now the movie has gone on to win 2 golden globes (best movie and director)...it didn't win best song or soundtrack (still some intellect left in the judging panel). I was actually shocked that there was a song at the end of it anyway!
ReplyDeleteDid I mention I came out of the IMAX theatre whistling the Titanic song? There just wasn't anything clearly whistleable to in Avatar, like My Heart Will Go On. :(
ReplyDeleteHa!
ReplyDeleteSame composer!
Similar voice!
I think some people coming out of our screening were humming "Colours of the Wind" (Pocahontas).
I loved Titanic.