Now that the holidays are officially over, maybe I can get back on track with things.
So, we finally went to see "Avatar".
A little background...
I. Hate. James. Cameron.
My hate for him is shadowed only by my loathing for Jerry "may the devil claim his own soon" Bruckheimer.
I think Cameron hasn't produced a decent film since "Terminator 2". "Titanic" was a waste of perfectly good technology and an unbelievable hack job that I still can't believe won Best Picture over "LA Confidential", "Good Will Hunting" (the fuck?!), "The Full Monty", and "As Good As It Gets". (Please send all hate mail to getsometasteyouteenyboppingsheep@biteme.com) Like Lucas, I don't feel Cameron can see past his ego to produce a good movie worthy of my hard-earned money. (And, trust me, it takes a lot to get money out of me for a theater ticket these days.)
As you can see, I went into this film with a little bias.
I expected to hate this movie and punch my husband for making me see it. Hell, I wanted to hate this movie.
I couldn't. Holy shit, I Could Not Hate This Movie.
I tried. I tried to pick it apart in my brain. I tried to pick up things that were obviously bad, like the name of the metal they were searching for - unobtainium. (There's a reason that didn't hit me as hard as other which I'll get into in a minute.) Every time I'd find something wrong, I'd find twenty things that worked really fucking well.
As everyone knows, this is about a guy who has to replace his dead twin brother in the Avatar Program. His brother was a scientist; he is a Marine. The scientists running the program hate this idea; the general who wants to blow it all up and go home, loves it. Jake isn't sure what to think at first. At first, it's just another mission in which case, he's not supposed to think, which almost seems comforting considering it's coming to him over his brother's dead body.
That's all you get on Jake. He's a Jar Head who can't afford to buy the surgery to get his dead legs back. He's offered a lot of money, and at one point, a free ticket to his legs from the general who wants him to do a little "reconnaissance". Money and "Yes, Sir!" That he can get his mind around.
And, yes, it is a little annoying that you don't get much more background on him, but while I normally frown upon movies that throw me in the middle of a situation and not give me any grasp of what's going on, it works with some films. It works with this one. You don't know much more than he does. He's just a blank slate. A guy who's having to start over. Kind of like his avatar in a way. While I might be reaching, somehow, it was a comfortable concept here.
Once in the avatar, he finds he has legs and so, so much more. Suddenly, he's something he couldn't dream. Suddenly, he's beyond human. So, yeah, it's no wonder he "went native".
Oh, please, don't even start to shout at me for not giving a spoiler alert. The biggest problem with this movie is the predictability of the plot. It's predictable because it's been told before ("Dances with Wolves", "Man Called Horse", etc...) But, truly, I have to say, if he had this technology 20 years ago, he would have told it earlier, and we'd be comparing them all to this. Besides, I have to admit - ya'll might want to sit down for this one - Cameron did it better. You see, the one thing I took away from this is the whole aspect of stepping out of your cocoon and understanding that which is different. The military and Corporation want Jake to understand these people, learn from them, learn what makes them tick, become one of them. The problem with that is, well, you become one of them. When you understand that tree you want to blow up is the home to an entire people, suddenly it doesn't seem like blowing it up is a good idea.
If you have a heart anyway.
The story's been told before, but it's not a complete carbon copy, and it's not this guy proving he's better than the natives. He's a guy who suddenly realizes that these aren't savages, these are People and they aren't in the way of progress, progress is intruding upon their lives. Unfortunately, they don't understand the tech bearing down upon them, but he does, so he can provide reconnaissance the other way: he can give them what he already knows.
Okay, yeah, they could have let the main badass warrior dude turn out to be the great warrior who gathers the tribes. That would have been nice. But, all things considered, since Jake at least bows to the leader of the tribe and acknowledges that he is nothing without the people around him and actually asks for permission to do things, it's a situation that's been handled better than in most films.
And, no, I don't think this film is anti-technology. I think it's against the misuse of technology. I also think it's a film largely about greed. Greed makes us blind. Greed makes it easy to blow up a lush forest for the metal underneath, especially if you have misused technology with which to do it. It's about being detached from the world around us. Which is funny because we are and aren't. We're detached from reality, but we're more connected than ever. Kind of funny, really.
Is it perfect? Oh, hells no. I definitely got the feeling this movie was missing a lot of scenes we'll probably see in the extended edition. (Hell, I kind of felt like he had two movies in this one, and he's planning on two more. It might have needed to be a set of four.) I felt there could have been better intro to some characters. I still haven't figured out how if the whole planet evolved in such a way that most creatures had six limbs where the hell the four-limbed Na'vi fit in. "Unobtainium" truly is a stupid name for an ore, but that I forgave only because in the original script, apparently it was a joke name given by disbelieving officials that seemed to stick - it would have been nice for him to explain the ridiculousness away. I would have liked to see Jake struggle a bit more to learn his avatar body, but it was already a 3 hour film. I wish to fucking hell someone would quit inflicting James Horner on innocent orchestras! He makes them sound like they're in pain, poor dears. Also, dude, that ending song... You know, only the teeny boppers liked the Celine Dion Titanic atrocity because they are teeny boppers and all insane. I really liked the movie. I really didn't like having to rush out of the screening room to keep my ears from bleeding. That's a bad way to end it.
Of course, 3D is the way to see this. I was afraid I couldn't enjoy it because the paper blue and red 3D glasses screw up the colors for me and make it hard to focus. Polarized 3D glasses are amazing. Hell, we're already determined that our theater room will possess the ability to do 3D. (Our friends are so in for a treat when we get that sucker finished.)
Yes, the story has been told before. But, I can't knock that Cameron told it in a lovely way this time. No, I'm not completely jaded by the "oooooh pretty!" special effects. It's not perfect. It could have been better. Is it "Lord of the Rings"? By no means. He is not Peter "Fucking Awesome" Jackson, but Peter also had a story that, when it appeared on the scene decades ago, was completely original. Cameron has had this story banging around in his head for almost 2 decades, and people beat him to it.
That's how I'm going to look at it because I truly loved this movie for all its flaws. It was an amazing sight. It made me tear up. It made me shiver. It was an experience I forgot could happen in theatrical releases.
I tried to hate it. I just can't.
Does this make me a new Cameron fan? Claw your fucking eyes out for suggesting it! I just found out tonight he's doing the remake of "Forbidden Planet". I shouted loudly, made stabby motions to my chest, and threw up in my mouth a little.
Cameron is still a hack, but this one, boils and ghouls, he got right.
About damn time.
4 out of 5 Kumquats. (Yes, I have movies that are worthy of 5 Kumquats, but they aren't from this decade so stop complaining.)
____________________
James Cameron is also doing a remake of Heavy Metal. That one I expect to be fantastically funny and worthy of our Bad Movie Night. Jury is still out on Ridley Scott doing "Robin Hood."
So, we finally went to see "Avatar".
A little background...
I. Hate. James. Cameron.
My hate for him is shadowed only by my loathing for Jerry "may the devil claim his own soon" Bruckheimer.
I think Cameron hasn't produced a decent film since "Terminator 2". "Titanic" was a waste of perfectly good technology and an unbelievable hack job that I still can't believe won Best Picture over "LA Confidential", "Good Will Hunting" (the fuck?!), "The Full Monty", and "As Good As It Gets". (Please send all hate mail to getsometasteyouteenyboppingsheep@biteme.com) Like Lucas, I don't feel Cameron can see past his ego to produce a good movie worthy of my hard-earned money. (And, trust me, it takes a lot to get money out of me for a theater ticket these days.)
As you can see, I went into this film with a little bias.
I expected to hate this movie and punch my husband for making me see it. Hell, I wanted to hate this movie.
I couldn't. Holy shit, I Could Not Hate This Movie.
I tried. I tried to pick it apart in my brain. I tried to pick up things that were obviously bad, like the name of the metal they were searching for - unobtainium. (There's a reason that didn't hit me as hard as other which I'll get into in a minute.) Every time I'd find something wrong, I'd find twenty things that worked really fucking well.
As everyone knows, this is about a guy who has to replace his dead twin brother in the Avatar Program. His brother was a scientist; he is a Marine. The scientists running the program hate this idea; the general who wants to blow it all up and go home, loves it. Jake isn't sure what to think at first. At first, it's just another mission in which case, he's not supposed to think, which almost seems comforting considering it's coming to him over his brother's dead body.
That's all you get on Jake. He's a Jar Head who can't afford to buy the surgery to get his dead legs back. He's offered a lot of money, and at one point, a free ticket to his legs from the general who wants him to do a little "reconnaissance". Money and "Yes, Sir!" That he can get his mind around.
And, yes, it is a little annoying that you don't get much more background on him, but while I normally frown upon movies that throw me in the middle of a situation and not give me any grasp of what's going on, it works with some films. It works with this one. You don't know much more than he does. He's just a blank slate. A guy who's having to start over. Kind of like his avatar in a way. While I might be reaching, somehow, it was a comfortable concept here.
Once in the avatar, he finds he has legs and so, so much more. Suddenly, he's something he couldn't dream. Suddenly, he's beyond human. So, yeah, it's no wonder he "went native".
Oh, please, don't even start to shout at me for not giving a spoiler alert. The biggest problem with this movie is the predictability of the plot. It's predictable because it's been told before ("Dances with Wolves", "Man Called Horse", etc...) But, truly, I have to say, if he had this technology 20 years ago, he would have told it earlier, and we'd be comparing them all to this. Besides, I have to admit - ya'll might want to sit down for this one - Cameron did it better. You see, the one thing I took away from this is the whole aspect of stepping out of your cocoon and understanding that which is different. The military and Corporation want Jake to understand these people, learn from them, learn what makes them tick, become one of them. The problem with that is, well, you become one of them. When you understand that tree you want to blow up is the home to an entire people, suddenly it doesn't seem like blowing it up is a good idea.
If you have a heart anyway.
The story's been told before, but it's not a complete carbon copy, and it's not this guy proving he's better than the natives. He's a guy who suddenly realizes that these aren't savages, these are People and they aren't in the way of progress, progress is intruding upon their lives. Unfortunately, they don't understand the tech bearing down upon them, but he does, so he can provide reconnaissance the other way: he can give them what he already knows.
Okay, yeah, they could have let the main badass warrior dude turn out to be the great warrior who gathers the tribes. That would have been nice. But, all things considered, since Jake at least bows to the leader of the tribe and acknowledges that he is nothing without the people around him and actually asks for permission to do things, it's a situation that's been handled better than in most films.
And, no, I don't think this film is anti-technology. I think it's against the misuse of technology. I also think it's a film largely about greed. Greed makes us blind. Greed makes it easy to blow up a lush forest for the metal underneath, especially if you have misused technology with which to do it. It's about being detached from the world around us. Which is funny because we are and aren't. We're detached from reality, but we're more connected than ever. Kind of funny, really.
Is it perfect? Oh, hells no. I definitely got the feeling this movie was missing a lot of scenes we'll probably see in the extended edition. (Hell, I kind of felt like he had two movies in this one, and he's planning on two more. It might have needed to be a set of four.) I felt there could have been better intro to some characters. I still haven't figured out how if the whole planet evolved in such a way that most creatures had six limbs where the hell the four-limbed Na'vi fit in. "Unobtainium" truly is a stupid name for an ore, but that I forgave only because in the original script, apparently it was a joke name given by disbelieving officials that seemed to stick - it would have been nice for him to explain the ridiculousness away. I would have liked to see Jake struggle a bit more to learn his avatar body, but it was already a 3 hour film. I wish to fucking hell someone would quit inflicting James Horner on innocent orchestras! He makes them sound like they're in pain, poor dears. Also, dude, that ending song... You know, only the teeny boppers liked the Celine Dion Titanic atrocity because they are teeny boppers and all insane. I really liked the movie. I really didn't like having to rush out of the screening room to keep my ears from bleeding. That's a bad way to end it.
Of course, 3D is the way to see this. I was afraid I couldn't enjoy it because the paper blue and red 3D glasses screw up the colors for me and make it hard to focus. Polarized 3D glasses are amazing. Hell, we're already determined that our theater room will possess the ability to do 3D. (Our friends are so in for a treat when we get that sucker finished.)
Yes, the story has been told before. But, I can't knock that Cameron told it in a lovely way this time. No, I'm not completely jaded by the "oooooh pretty!" special effects. It's not perfect. It could have been better. Is it "Lord of the Rings"? By no means. He is not Peter "Fucking Awesome" Jackson, but Peter also had a story that, when it appeared on the scene decades ago, was completely original. Cameron has had this story banging around in his head for almost 2 decades, and people beat him to it.
That's how I'm going to look at it because I truly loved this movie for all its flaws. It was an amazing sight. It made me tear up. It made me shiver. It was an experience I forgot could happen in theatrical releases.
I tried to hate it. I just can't.
Does this make me a new Cameron fan? Claw your fucking eyes out for suggesting it! I just found out tonight he's doing the remake of "Forbidden Planet". I shouted loudly, made stabby motions to my chest, and threw up in my mouth a little.
Cameron is still a hack, but this one, boils and ghouls, he got right.
About damn time.
4 out of 5 Kumquats. (Yes, I have movies that are worthy of 5 Kumquats, but they aren't from this decade so stop complaining.)
____________________
James Cameron is also doing a remake of Heavy Metal. That one I expect to be fantastically funny and worthy of our Bad Movie Night. Jury is still out on Ridley Scott doing "Robin Hood."
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