When I saw the brand new trailer of Avatar..... I kinda judged harshly because it was just a trailer, a visual hint of the upcoming movie. But it was a big deal to me because it was hyped to be the newest work of sci-fi legend James Cameron. I mean he did f*ckin Terminator 1 + 2 and Aliens, a sequel that nearly surpassed the original. Now for James Cameron to come out of the blue (mind the pun) after his work on Titanic with a story he conjured up for 10 years and the promise of the newest and biggest special effects you'll ever experience. With those news in mind, I was thinking along the line of 2001: A Space Odyssey: a brand new sci-fi opus experience. James Cameron described as a "game-changer", a boastful statement that heightens the expectation of every fan and moviegoers. Seeing the trailer it felt like a crossover between Ferngully, Dances with Wolves and Smurfs and I was very disappointed. Nearing the release of the film, it started to have glowing reviews and I was starting to think... maybe I judged this movie too quickly. I should learn not to judge a book by its cover or else you'll look like a fool. I should give this movie a chance. It was theater night, lined up to watch it on I-Max in Digital 3D and the place was packed. I was about to see Avatar.... and it was going to rock my world by James F*ckin Cameron again. It was going to blow my mind. I saw it and....
....
I was right all along...
....
The movie did sucked...
Avatar... more like AVERAGE-TAR!
Dear God it was so average. I really really REALLY wanted to like this. I really do. I wanted to be the bad guy in this and once be the fool for being such a judgmental prick. Be proven so wrong! But meh! It was dull, boring, corny and average with the capital A. Granted it was an unique experience and if it weren't for the 3D effects, I would have sooooo been pissed off. But he has to say his name out loud, "James Cameron, I did Titanic and Terminator! Get ready for an awesome ride!" If it was anyone else and with any background, it would be ok on my book. But I feel he just didn't step up to the game. And for 3 FREAKIN HOURS!!! For a story that has been told so many freakin times! What can he put within 3 hours that we can't predict or forecast? I don't like to brag, but man James Cameron bragged about this movie so much. I mean he's one of my heroes and I hate to do this. But I'm gonna brag and say "I was right! This movie was dull from the beginning"
The story is what you have been through for so many times. Guy is part of the army to colonize an sacred planet with indigenous tribes. Guy winds up in the hands of the tribes. Guy learns and loves about the tribes. Guy decides to protect the tribes he loves from his own kind and gives obligatory motivational speech. Its nothing new and nothing original, its a run-of-a-mill textbook epic movie. The thing is does that excuse from just being a visual feast? In a way it doesn't. Towards my beliefs, a film has got to have a good balance of story and visuals. And if the story actually gave some tightness with new aspects and different outlook, it would have been a different and possibly better experience for me. The story just abandons the one element: subtlety. It is good to have messages, but unlike Wall-E, these messages such as environment and corporation are just forced and it come as something abit pretentious. It just bangs you with the head with "Army bad! Corporation bad! Tree good!" and it'll just annoy you with the over-dramatic and over-exaggerated imagery. If it was just nothing but a CG visual marathon, no matter how spectacular it gets, the film become soulless and won't have any depth. Which is disappointing from the potential this film could have. And in a three hour movie, you might feel so dragged in through this story.
The Last Smurferai
Characters are ranged just from labeled, stereotypical and actually decent. And really, I have to be honest that there are no characters that are likable or interesting with one or two exceptions. Sam Worthington is generic hero #32, which is in a way, disappointing, because I was looking forward to his range after a great performance from Terminator Salvation. There are a few good moments, but mostly were just so-so and bland. Sigourney Weaver is back with a little hint of Ellen Ripley and possibly one of the actors that still has that shine on the screen. Michelle Rodriguez is still playing the woman who actually wants to be a man and really is the female Schwarzenegger. You'll either be laughing or cringing (mostly) at her all-so corny one-liner. But the biggest characters that is the roll of the dice whether it works or not are the villains. And they really didn't worked for me. The villains are as overly-done and caricatured as any cartoon villain you see. Giovanni Ribisi is your typical corporation who really thinks of nothing but money and the natural source material that worth alot of money and his performance is really over-the-top, yet no-so fun. Whats missing from him are the top hat, cape and a twirling mustache. And then you got Steven Lang who plays jock marine colonel assh*le who's motivation is to just completely eliminate the Navi tribes. Nothing else, just kill Navis and command marines to kill Navis. Their villainy are flawed by the writing of the film, which gave them the most basic and exaggerated motivation and background to the point they are just ignorant and annoying. Possibly the one good actor that gave a great performance is Zoe Saldaña, who did very well considering her entire performance was through motion capture.
Meeeeeoowww!
Now about the special effects. I'll say it ranges from very impressive to very... whats the word... cartoony. I'm sorry but certain part of the effects and CG felt really out of place for me. It was still like watching a long video game sequence or a Pixar movie. I remembered when Jake first woke up in his Avatar body, I just felt awkward seeing the Avatar's face for the first time as it look so... cartoony. I did get used to it later on, but it look flawed when it comes to far shots of the Navi' movement and action. It may be the different sense of movement and agility the Navi possessed, but I still didn't buy it. Close up shots of the CG Navi looks really good with bits of details and specks as it is close to an organic real human face. Some of the creatures in the world of Pandora (which I think its still a dumb name), are very interesting to look at and some were just so fit for a cartoon. What is impressive is the environment that was created through the use of CG and most of it looks so natural and organic that it looks like its part of our world. Yet if the CG was impressive in every aspects, I would have blown away but it didn't.
Just like his previous film Titanic, you'll have to wade through 2 hours of bland expositions and moments only to get to the last hour for the good stuff. If there's one thing James Cameron can really do, it is that he can create such amazing action sequences. The battle scenes between the Marine and Navi are greatly done and packed with many asskicking stuff, even if the scenes was a bit predictable. The music is again composed by collaborator James Horner who did such works for Cameron like Aliens and Titanic. Only this time his score aren't that memorable or decent. There are some good moments in the film, but yet they are outweighed by the many corny and cheesy moment that could have saved this film from such mediocrity.
I don't care about these Nig.. Navis! What I meant to say..
Depends on how you see this film or how you view film in general. To me.... if it was some new director. Someone who we have never heard of, who came in and made this. I would be very impressed. But this is James Cameron. If he wasn't bragging about the new technology he will endowed upon us and expect us to be dazzled by it, I wouldn't listen to any of his fans and be part of a fun ride. But he did bragged. If he wasn't known for good writing and storyline in a sci-fi effects fest, this would have been a step up from his previous works. But you see such GREAT stories and writing from Aliens and f*ckin Terminator 2! I wonder if a Xenomorph really did ripped out James Cameron's brain. And knowing this, I can't helped but be actually PISSED OFF. I was about to give a much lower rating than what I planned but seeing it is worthy of watching in digital 3D, this is just an average film for what it hyped to be a film of the decade.
3 out of 5 stars! And that's being generous...
James Cameron.... COME ON!!!
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