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Big-budget, special effects nut; James Cameron’s most recent film, Avatar is just what the geeks asked for, and is pretty much exactly what I would’ve predicted it to be. Titanic was brilliant, and also featured a good chunk of over-the top extravaganzas showing beautiful CGI and the model of the Titanic Ship, which were beautiful through and through, no doubt. I loved every bit of that film. James Cameron was behind that? Hmmm, but it had a storyline, weird right? I thought so. Terminator was great too, and the storyline in that one impressed me. Other than those, plots are NOT this guy’s strength, to say the least.
What’s shown on screen for two and a half hours will undoubtedly impress and bedazzle shallow moviegoers, or people who enjoy films with NOTHING but amazing CGI and action packed scenes that seem very redundant. I’m not disrespecting those who loved this movie. I just look for more than robust explosions and cool looking creatures. The whole plot was clearly lazily written, and obviously the people behind the film were relying on the imagery and CGI to impress, and score big at the box office. Well, it succeeded in both areas, at least for the majority of the people who saw it. These days, character development, acting and a storyline don’t suffice as a good movie. There are those who enjoy real films, opposed to Hollywood money-grubbers, including me, but they’re few and far between. I highly respect them; actually, I admire them, as about seventy percent of the viewers are thirteen year olds or potheads, who’d have absolutely no clue what a good film was if it they had one put directly in front of them.
Having said that, Avatar isn’t a bad film necessarily. It isn’t even “average” on my scale, but it has its moments. The first 30 or 40 minutes are very entertaining, developing the main character; Sam Worthington relatively well. I liked the premise at first, and it seemed really cool. It then descends into a general “unknown planet" romp with every formulaic element you can think of, including a love story that forms between one of the avatars and a human. I’m also not a fan of Weaver, so that surely did not help. Now, I enjoy all genres of films, but this was just silly. I will admit, the visuals are AMAZING, however that’s the only real positive thing about this movie. I give tons of credit to Cameron for implementing gorgeous visuals. But, he forgot two of the most important parts of a picture, a real plot and interesting characters.
Bottomline: I don’t understand the positive reviews, the hype, or the amazing things people claimed to have seen. This is easily one of the most overrated, overhyped and over discussed films I’ve ever seen.
4.5/10
