‘Avatar’ Movie Review – Good, Bad and Indifferent (Spoiler Alert!!)
Posted by Monkey 1 in: All News, Latest Pics, Movie Reviews, MoviesBeware, gentle reader. I talk about the movie here so if you don't want to have the plotline ruined, go see the movie then come back and share your thoughts.
So I rushed out and saw Avatar last night. I caught the very first showing at our local theater and was a little surprised that it wasn't sold out considering the attention leading up to opening night! That said, we got our tickets, were gouged at the candy counter and found our ideal seats for what we hoped would be THE movie of the year. I won't say we came away disappointed but it left some to be desired. Read on..
Avatar - The Good:
To be sure, James Cameron is a brilliant film maker. The movie was visually stunning which is what I was looking forward to. The hype for me was al about the visual and here, JC - (hmmm, that feels wrong), James Cameron did not disappoint. For the most part, you really feel the size and scope of the planet of Pandora where the whole movie takes place. The film jumps back and forth between live action and animation so seamlessly. From the humans home base and machinery to the magical planet of Pandora and its in, you just can't be sure at times whether you are seeing amazing costumes or amazing animation! I never cease to be amazed at what the film industry is able to convince me of through stunning CGI.
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri
That is not to say that there some flaws but that would be nitpicking. Avatar gets full marks for imagery. Giovanni Ribisi', while mostly a two dimensional character with limited screen exposure, did what he did best - I've always had a soft spot for him. Sigourney Weaver reminded me of what a solid performer she is. No matter what type of film she is in, she always stands out. Zoe Saldana played Neytiri of the Na'vi. It is always revealing when an actor is forced to perform without actually being seen. Saldana has shown herself to be a pretty good actor here - I was actually surprised! Watch for more of her I'm sure.
Avatar - The Bad:
The plot. Big bad company run by white stereotypes oppresses native tree dwellers. Weak, weak weak. I kind of expected the cliche of 'Big Bad Corporation' vs 'The Environment' be it earthly or alien. These types of movies usually can't do both imagery and originality well at the same time so I was prepared to forgive some of that. What I didn't expect was the frustration I felt at the theme of the movie. The whole premise of 'white guilt' was so glaringly overdone here that I was nauseous. From the handicapped white marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) finding redemption by coming to the aid of and eventually leading the oppressed indigenous peoples, to the social worker (Weaver) bringing 'Education' to the natives (like they needed it), to Neytiri (Saldana) who, like most of the Na'vi, emoted a mostly black character in every sense - from how she expressed anger to how she expressed grief, I felt smothered by the concept of the great white evil hell bent on the mindless destruction of Pandora and its <insert white-oppressed race here> people for their own selfish needs.
Unrivaled CGI but so much more could have been done!
This was such a lazy, unbalanced portrayal of good vs evil that it sullied (see what I did there?) the overall beauty of the movie. I find it sad that Cameron took such an unthinking approach to the plot.
One blogger referenced in a very good blog at i09 commented;
"By the end of the film you're left wondering why the film needed the Jake Sully character at all. The film could have done just as well by focusing on an actual Na'vi native who comes into contact with crazy humans who have no respect for the environment. I can just see the explanation: "Well, we need someone (an avatar) for the audience to connect with. A normal guy will work better than these tall blue people." However, this is the type of thinking that molds all leads as white male characters (blank slates for the audience to project themselves upon) unless your name is Will Smith."
This I think will be the topic of many an online diatribe. Maybe that is what Cameron had in mind. Or maybe the plot was an afterthought. This was easily the weakest part of Avatar and managed to offend whites, blacks and natives, ironically, equally.
Avatar - The Indifferent
Frankly, I made no connection with many of the characters. I whole-heartedly agree with the questionable need for Sam Worthington's character and his performance was really quite forgettable. The human technology was cool but under-developed as was many of the supporting performances.
Overall, the movie was good fun and certainly should get some awards for the epic scale that the visuals created. I may try and see it in IMAX just for the experience. There is very much a 'wow' factor throughout. Just be prepared to work very hard to tune out the plot!
I think it would make a great read and will probably buy the book too.
What did you think?
|
||||||||
Tags: 20th fox, action, adventure, Avatar, avatar movie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez, neytiri, Sam Worthington, sci fi, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
I did not notice any racial profiling in the acting of Zoe Saldana staring as Neytiri in Avatar. I only found out who she was this evening after seeing the movie in IMAX-3D this morning. I think the plot is quite appropriate for our times. The English attempted to keep lording over us. We destroyed the lives of countless American Indians and our own environment. Today, selfish powers, often in the guise of corporations do all they can to ruin the lives of everyone in the world including the environment. Science Fiction is always an excellent vehicle to attest to the present in a futuristic setting.
Same here. I didn’t see anything racial in this movie. I didn’t even recognize that Zoe was black until I came home and saw some pictures of her. I am being completely honest when I tell you that “skin color” didn’t even enter my mind while watching Avatar.
It’s interesting how we all can interpret films differently. I connected it to the Iraqi War at times, but do realize that the symbolism stretches far beyond that.
I found the movie’s teachings, so to speak, to be very complex and multidimensional. For example, I didn’t find it narrowing in to one single message – if there even was one at all.
The truth is that if you walk into a movie looking to break it down to its components you will always find two things.
The first is the same old boring story. undreds of thousands of movies have been made since the invention of the “video camera” ( I use this term very loosely) and there really are no new ideas. What James Cameron did was simply present this one in a new and quite stunning way.
The second is racism. It’s everywhere as long as you’re looking for it. As a junior in high school my class’s pep rally theme was the nick show “Rocket Power” in which a white character named “Squid” had a “N” on his shirt because he was from Nebraska. The principal forced the class designer to remove the “N” because he felt it was racial. Take that Nickelodeon, you racist people. And I guess Disney should be sued for “The Princess and the Frog” as the original plot line (which has been used a thousand times) was “Historical” in having the protagonist (black girl) as a maid to a white Louisianan family. But don’t worry,they made sure that after complaints they took away her job and living quarters as a maid and made her a waitress. Serving white people. So much better.
Ok, sorry for the rant. But I must agree with both Lance and Karen, “Avatar’s” teachings were quite in depth and I saw it as an extended metaphor for most of history.
A cursory look at history tells us that many indigenous societies have been subject to destruction for economic gain. To the extent that it echoes history, the story of Avatar is no exaggeration. One may desire more ambiguities to more closely reflect real situations, or have the evil characters show some degree of self-doubt (as indeed Selfridge does), but Cameron is justified in simplifying real stories to display their skeleton – historical fact is not contradicted, as we can see from the results of such events we learn about from history. It is surprising that the reviewer seems unable to see that analogs of every aspect of the central story can be found in historical fact. One wonders indeed whether the denial of the basic truth of the story reflects a desire to gild history.
Racism, like beauty, seems to be indeed in the eye of the beholder…
I didn’t know who Eytiri was played by, and I thought that it was a Hispanic woman (I actually thought Penelope Cruz!) becaue of her accent.
From the horse-like creatures to the calling signs, from the symbiotic relatuionship with the planet to the adulthood rites, even the speech sounding and them calling themselves “the People” (what the Sioux call themselves), all I saw and heard, including the story itself, made me think solely of Native Americans. Not one Black in sight, sorry.
What I thought throughout the film was, because of the powerfully evoked Indian imagery, was “Dances with Wolves” set in outer space. But racism? Nah. If anything, it is a telling example of what human beings will do to one another when greed gets in the way, regardless of colour or creed. Accuse the Templars of heresy and burn them all after appropriating their wealth. The Holocaust. Every colonial war. Come on, we have a nasty history as a species to take what we want when we want and justify it under any pretext.
So let’s drop the “racist” tag, please. Yes, the plot is simple. So is Die Hard’s, 2012’s, and indeed the vast majority of movies ever made. But it is beautifully made and grabs us throughout, and I don’t now of anyone coming out disappointed… Isn’t that what great cinema is all about?
I think everyone agrees that the movie was, in a word, breathtaking! Hats off to the talent compiled to put such an epic together.
For me, that leaves us with the need to pick at SOMETHING. The way the plot was delivered left something to be desired and given the casting of the ‘bad guys’, can see where one could be left with a feeling that ‘whitey bad’ everyone else good. Not a single prominent non-white on the corporation’s side. Even the pilot – the hispanic hottie – ends up defecting to the side of the na’vi. I don’t think that the movie was racist in any deliberate sense and I don’t think that is what the reviewer was stating. I think that it was the easy way to split good verses evil and not particularly fair. I’m sure it was done on purpose just to create this kind of converstation.
As mentioned above, this movie, like every other movie out there, is a rehash of the same old stuff… the same story, the same characters, but with different visuals.
I’ve been reading a lot lately on how racial this movie was. Really? Because it didn’t have any humans of color? Big deal… how many white people do you see on BET?
As far as the plot goes, and how the Na’vi are “black”… get off it. The world doesn’t revolve around the idea that blacks are being oppressed all the time. If anything, this movie was a retelling of “Dances With Wolves”; it even shared characters, plot, and dialog.
It was a good movie, a stunning movie. Original? No, not by far. Racial? Not even close.