Hey, uh, I think you've got some broken glow stick on your face there.
I’m not sure if you heard, but James Cameron made a movie recently. It’s called Avatar. I hear some people went to see it.
This is my review of it.
But before I delve into my over-analytical take on the film, I should note that I’m doing this a little differently – that is, I’m writing this review with the assumption that you, the reader (all one of you), have already seen the film. This is a pretty safe bet given that Avatar is now the second-highest grossing film of all time (right behind Titanic, ANOTHER James Cameron film), but if you haven’t seen the movie, be warned: there are all kinds of spoilers ahead.
Anyway, what follows is my little review, helpfully broken down into sections for your convenience…
Stuff I Liked (and you probably liked too):
1) The Special Effects. This is kind of a given, so I’m going to go ahead and get it out of the way: James Cameron’s Avatar is the pinnacle of modern special effects. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is the film’s emphasis on pure spectacle. In fact, spectacle is probably the main selling point of the film – every reviewer is blown away by the lush, glow-y world of Pandora, the magical Fern Gully-esque planet on which Avatar is set. Every creature that roams the fictional planet seems carefully designed to dazzle and inspire, and just watching the computer-generated grass flutter atop floating mountains is enough to drop jaws. You can’t help but be sucked in, and – thanks to a little 3D magic – you don’t just watch the movie, you actually want to explore Cameron’s world.
But spectacle alone isn’t what makes Avatar’s effects so impressive. Any film can dazzle (see Speed Racer), but few films have been able to successfully merge computer-generated spectacle with real human actors without it feeling “fake.” Moreover, even fewer films have been able to give said spectacle human emotion all its own…But Avatar is not most films.
It's so real, you'll want your own dragon. (but then you'll realize you can't have one, and you will be sad)
Here’s an example: when Jake Sulley (Sam Worthington) – a cocky, paraplegic Marine and the film’s protagonist – rolls across the surface of Pandora for the first time, he is flanked by giant walking mech-suits piloted by futuristic marines. In the past, I responded to similar movie scenes (see the second two Matrix films) a very specific way, namely “That looks cool, but it obviously isn’t real.” While watching Avatar, however, my mind did something very different: instead of attempting to pick apart the special effects in front of me, I just instinctively let the movie be what it was – a different world. It’s a difficult thing to describe, but Avatar’s special effects have a way of being simultaneously “real” – meaning that human actors look authentic and fully convincing despite being surrounded by special effects – and also entirely “fictional” – meaning that you understand that Pandora is not technically a real place, but you just don’t care. In other words, the special effects just work without the viewer having to think about them, which is really the point of special effects to begin with.
Finally, it’s worth noting that the film’s effects are convincing enough that you want to see close ups of the Na’vi – not just because they are beautiful (although they are), but also because you care about them. Granted, this isn’t altogether new – audiences have been taking pleasure in the faces of Pixar characters like Nemo and Mr. Incredible for almost a decade. Still, Pixar’s characters are usually animals, and therefore cute. When Pixar films offered rare close ups of their human characters, however, they tended to freak us the flip out.
Exhibit A
Avatar’s Na’vi, by contrast, seem genuinely emotive. When Sigourney Weaver’s Avatar smiles, you feel it in a very real, very “Aw she smiles like my grandma!” sort of way. Yes, the fact that a blue alien shaped like Sigourney Weaver reminds of my grandmother is sort of odd, but it’s true. James Cameron’s special effects have launched us into a Brave New World where all sorts of things in films are going to remind us of our grandmothers, and we’re going to like it. (you know, that sounds even weirder when I type it…)
Ripley conducting "research," 80s style.
2) Flipping the script on Aliens. Back in 1986, James Cameron made another film – Aliens. On the surface, Avatar and Aliens seem to have a lot in common: both are directed by James Cameron. Both involve a violent conflict between space marines and “primitive” but deadly aliens. Both involve Sigourney Weaver. Both start with an “A”, and use six letters in their title.
But once you get past these initial similarities the two films diverge sharply:
a) Whereas Dr. Grace Augustine – Sigourney Weaver’s character in Avatar – is solely dedicated to the scientific study of and peaceful interaction with Pandora’s aliens, Ripley – Sigourney weaver’s character in Aliens – is hell-bent on killing every alien she came in contact with. Indeed, Aliens’ Ripley only agrees to help her fellow humans once they promise her that they will only kill aliens and not attempt to study them scientifically.
b) Whereas the “primitiveness” of Avatar’s Navi is praised as an asset (think “noble savage”), the primitive nature of Aliens’ xenomorphs is linked to their savage, mindless, and homicidal nature.
c) The Na’vi of Avatar are hominids, and are championed for being more “humane” than humans themselves. In Aliens, the xenomorphs are terrifyingly insect-like in nature – or distinctly inhumane – and thus deserving of destruction.
d) In Aliens, the final climactic fight scene is between a human in a giant mechanical suit (Ripley) and one of the last surviving aliens (the Alien Queen) – and you root for the human. In Avatar, the final climactic fight scene is also between a human in a mechanized suit (Col. Quaritch) and one of the last surviving aliens (Jake Sulley) – but you root for the alien.
In short, Cameron’s latest epic seems to be a complete re-telling of one of his earliest films, except this time in reverse. But why the switch? There are a few theories: Aliens, for instance, was made in the wake of the Cold War when an Us vs. Them mentality – replicated in Cameron’s humans vs. aliens motif – still deeply permeated the American psyche. Avatar, by contrast, is made in an era in which America’s enemies (Iraqis, Afghanis, etc.) are given a human face by CNN, the New York Times, blogs, etc. What’s more, we live in a time in which the environment – which Cameron has already stated are represented the Na’vi - is a main point of conversation in global politics. Thus, these two films are perhaps evidence of how the movie industry has shifted its use of “aliens” as a metaphor over time. Still, I’d love to hear other theories on the subject, so feel free to hit up the comments box and let me know!
3) Sigourney Weaver is awesome.
James Cameron: Dream Stealer.
She just is.
4) The film has floating mountains and flying jellyfish in it. They are awesome. I literally thought of both of these things when I was six years old. It’s like James Cameron stole my dreams, made them into a 3D movie, and then made 1.5 Billion dollars off of them.
I want to be James Cameron, or at least have his billions of dollars to make my dreams come true.
Things That I Didn’t Like As Much
1) James Cameron is apparently really bad at naming things.
I imagine James Cameron’s initial conversation with his script editors going something like this:
James Cameron: Alright, so there is this planet called Pandora, and humans are going to invade it. That’s a crazy twist, right?! Now, the main driving force behind the invasion of Pandora is the quest for a precious mineral that can only be found on the small planet. Guess what it’s called?!
Editor: Hrm…Something exotic but made up, like “Exocritium Nitrate?”
JC: No – I’ve got something even better! We’ll call it Unobtanium! You know why we’ll call it that?
Editor: Um, no. I actually can’t think of any good reason to call it that. At all.
JC: Because it’s difficult to obtain! Get it? Subtle, right?
Editor: Um…
JC: And then there’s this really hardcore Colonel, who we’ll call Col. Quaritch. Because he’s been in a lot of quarrels! See how that works?
Editor: Uh, yes, I see. Mr. Cameron, I’m sure that your audiences will get it anyway without you having to spell it out for -
JC: Wait! I’ve got it! Guess what we’ll call the business guy who is ruthlessly pushing for the destruction of the Navi’s Hometree so he can get to the Unobtanium?
Editor: Um, Ima Biznasman?
JC: No – but I like your thinking! How about Parker Selfridge? You know, because he’s selfish! Get it?
Editor: Mr. Cameron, I’m sorry. Those names are stupid.
:: long pause ::
:: James stares at Editor ::
JC: I made Titanic. It made 1.8 Billion dollars.
Editor: …Selfridge it is!
2) Avatar = Fern Gully/Dances With Wolves/Pocahontas/The Last Samurai, and that is not always a good thing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all four of the above mentioned movies as much as the next guy. Still, all four stories have also been criticized in the past – as has Avatar – for a very specific and understandable reason: why is it that it is always the American/European/Australian guy who comes in, is “accepted” by a culture and then “saves” it?
Let me explain: The best example of this is The Last Samurai. The idea of Tom Cruise being a samurai is scary enough (Scientologists with swords – think about it), but should an American military guy who spends relatively little time in Japan really get to be the last samurai? Granted, the story – and others like it – is essentially an attempt by Western nations to apologize for that whole colonialism thing by having one of their own fight the colonists. Still, the end message isn’t all that dissimilar from the one that drove colonialism: the western guy saves the “noble savages” – or blue Na’vi who also look a whole lot like the Hollywood vision of Native Americans – because he’s apparently the only one who can do it. This mentality, ladies and gentlemen, can – and does – offend a whole lot of people.
I am so totally oppressing you right now.
Granted, it bears mentioning that James Cameron wrote Avatar in 1995, the same year Disney’s Pocahontas came out and just a few years after the release of Dances with Wolves and Fern Gully. Thus, it follows that Avatar was crafted when the whole “noble savage” and “send in the western dude to save them all” thing was pretty popular on the silver screen. Regardless, this “messiah complex” still very much exists in Avatar circa 2010, and it is certainly true that this sense of entitlement on the part of Western Culture – or at the very least “earth” culture – can come off as condescending to many.
3) Seriously. Poncahontas.
James might have a problem with originality. This picture pretty much explains it all.
4) The film uses Papyrus as its main font (aka – the worst font ever).
It’s like James Cameron got to the whole “font selection” part of the film, and then just ran out of ideas. In desperation, he decided to go with the first font he saw, and apparently that font was the lettering on a business card for an acupuncture clinic.
5) I can never take Avatar home with me.
Let’s be honest: Avatar works best in IMAX 3D. As such, watching it at home on a DVD player is simply never going to be as cool as in the theatre.
…Unless James Cameron uses all that money he’s making to fix that for me (hint hint, Jimmy C).
All in all, I really enjoyed the film. Again, the overall storyline of Avatar is going to rightly encounter some criticism and there is certainly a lack of creativity in places, but the overall product is one that literally explodes off the screen in a way that will leave audiences breathless for years to come. James Cameron seems to have once again captured the the eyes, ears and hearts of movie-goers the world over in a way that has spurred people to actually go to the movies in droves. And that fact – no matter how you slice it – is a good thing.
Now, if only science could catch up and get some mountains flying around or something. It’s 2010, and if I can’t get a flying car, I at least want my own flying dragon thingy, dangit!
