James Cameron's "Avatar" (grading and discussion)

[Tombfyre]

I just got back from this film. I'd say its average.. i wasn't bored tho because the effects were... stunning to say the least. It was the first time i've ever seen a full length picture in 3D. I thought that wide angle shots looks awe inspiring and i loved them. But up close things seemed a bit flickery, and fuzzy. I also found it strained my eyes a bit when the cameras focus switched and i was left with my brain trying to focus on what i was looking at. Overall.. i liked the 3D.

Now to the story, I honestly don't mind a generic plot, as long as its executed well with all factions and characters being fleshed out nicely. Unfortunatly, the movie is entirly a very generic story and the characters are paper thin! The Dialogue was also terrible... i could only cringe at the general guys fight terror with terror speech. It was really just rediculous.

The total lack of motivation behind the humans behavior really took away from the film for me. Its just not explained why earth lets this corporation come in and mow eveything down. Why couldn't they just build a mine underground? Is there a reason this mineral is worth so much? To many questions. Not enough depth!

To me the humans appeared psychotic.

So it was an average film with absolutly stunning visual effects...... aka hollywood films in the year 2009.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's possible that while the mineral sold for a lot most of that is in overhead , it has a small profit margin.

The movie seemed to imply that they didn't have FTL travel, it took, IIRC, the better part of six years for them to travel there from Earth, which is a little over 1/2c, maybe more like 3/4c.

So I wonder how they kept in contact with Earth? Any messages would take four years for one side of the conversation to get out. How do they even know they still the need the Pandora mineral?

(The day after these events took place and E-mail arrives: )

To: Evil Co. Pandora Branch
From: Evil Co. Corporate HQ
Subj: UNOBTANIUM

Hey guys, look, we don't need the unobtanium anymore. We found a way to produce a synthetic version ourselves far cheaper by using minerals found in the asteroid belt. So don't go to any more trouble to get the stuff, OK?

 

[T'Baio]

I thought the film was a masterpiece. All the complaints about bad story and dialogue are bitter bunk from people who are unable to lose themselves in the majesty of cinema.

I wanna write a review, but I have so much to say and I'm so lazy...

One word: HYPOCRITE

Its true for so many of you in this thread.

So complaining about the plot is now suddenly a lame excuse for some?!
I got two more words for you: TERMINATOR SALVATION

Its plot was no more full of nitpicks or cliches but you and many decided it was fair game. Its why I can't take you seriously on your opinions.

The Majesty of Cinema my ass. It was pretty but the mantra around here so often is substance that now when a picture is "just pretty" its suddenly ok to overlook its other jarring flaws.

CAMERON COCK SUCKERS.

Michael Bay has delivered tighter stories with 'kewl effects'.

You have that kind of reaction to one sentence where I barely explained or justified my opinion?

Seriously...relax. You take this shit way too personally.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Wow.... I just got back from my 1st showing. (yes I plan to see it again)

It will take some time for me to digest the film for a proper review, but I voted Excellent. In numerical terms I give it 9/10.

I can say one thing, though, it was the best movie experience I have had of the year. (and for a lot longer)

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I couldn't keep track of what was happening, because we kept getting extreme closeups of robots that looked nearly identical to one another.

I'm glad someone else feels that way.

 

[Cyke101]

The ending makes no sense to me.

Spoiler: the ending

So the humans are defeated and sent back to Earth. What's to stop them from returning and this time bombarding the planet from orbit? The aliens have no means of defending against an orbital assault.

But whatever. It's not the worse movie I've seen, but it is by no means a masterpiece.

Spoiler: the ending

Well, if you look at everyone's faces when they get carted off to the shuttle, they have those ashamed "wah wah" faces.

Additionally, early on in the movie, Manager Ribisi and Col. Bad-Ass explain to our hero and Dr. Ripley that they could easily bomb the inhabitants, but it would be a PR nightmare that would drastically drive stocks down, hence the need to have a spy in the first place.

 

[Mr. B]

Who wants to bet that goes out the window in the sequal?

 

[Docbrown777]

Did anyone else find it kind of hard to believe that science in the future has discovered how to grow a darn near perfect body of an alien/human hybrid and mentally link a human with it but we still aren't able to repair spinal cord injuries?

 

[Thestral]

Here's my three-word description: Badass "Fern Gully."

Voted excellent. Sure, the plot was predictable and the characters fairly standard, but it was all well-executed, and the visuals were amazing. Bring on a sequel!

And, with those mechs... can we get a Battletech movie now?

Did anyone else find it kind of hard to believe that science in the future has discovered how to grow a darn near perfect body of an alien/human hybrid and mentally link a human with it but we still aren't able to repair spinal cord injuries?

Err... they can. Sully just didn't have the $$$ for it (and Colonel Badass said his legs would be waiting for him back on Earth).

 

[Trekker4747]

The Spoony Experiment has its review up.

LINK

 

[DWF]

Did anyone else find it kind of hard to believe that science in the future has discovered how to grow a darn near perfect body of an alien/human hybrid and mentally link a human with it but we still aren't able to repair spinal cord injuries?

Sully explained at the start of the movie that they could do it he just didn't have the money to have it done.

 

[John Clark]

Saw it yesterday (in 2d). I felt it was fairly decent if a little predictable. The story was well told and the effects good. I'll be ordering it when it comes out

 

[barnaclelapse]

I thought the film was a masterpiece. All the complaints about bad story and dialogue are bitter bunk from people who are unable to lose themselves in the majesty of cinema.

I wanna write a review, but I have so much to say and I'm so lazy...

I lost myself in the film just fine, but there's no such thing (nor should there ever be) as a film that's so visually striking that I never once at any point question the storytelling/acting side of things.

A film can be a powerhouse of sights and sounds and still have a story and good acting to hold it up for repeat viewings.

 

[T'Baio]

Let me explain myself further, then...I don't think it had a bad story or terrible dialogue or bad characters or painful acting. I think it was iconic, and used standard tropes to make a film about 12ft tall blue cat people mare accessible. It wasn't any less original than Star Wars was in 1977, which cribbed much, if not all, of its ideas from past sci-fi and other standard hero myth storytelling and most notably, and admittedly from its creator, Kurosawa films. But those stories are considered amazing by most of us. It's not always in the originality of the story, but what you do with it and how you do it, and Avatar did it wonderfully.

 

[Endymion]

My review is right here...

http://bit.ly/5ajlmo

 

[Lt. Trull]

So.... I've read thousands and thousands of science fiction books in my life and all of them too a piece here for a piece there, or retold a story in a different perspective...
It all doesn't really matter... as long as they tell a good story. could I read it again or see it again and still enjoy it... and this movie accomplishes that easily.

 

[The Wormhole]

The ending makes no sense to me.

Spoiler: the ending

So the humans are defeated and sent back to Earth. What's to stop them from returning and this time bombarding the planet from orbit? The aliens have no means of defending against an orbital assault.

But whatever. It's not the worse movie I've seen, but it is by no means a masterpiece.

Spoiler: the ending

Well, if you look at everyone's faces when they get carted off to the shuttle, they have those ashamed "wah wah" faces.

Additionally, early on in the movie, Manager Ribisi and Col. Bad-Ass explain to our hero and Dr. Ripley that they could easily bomb the inhabitants, but it would be a PR nightmare that would drastically drive stocks down, hence the need to have a spy in the first place.

Spoiler: response

"The only thing worse than bad PR is bad quarterly statements."

Now that they've gotten their asses handed to them, the humans will be back, in greater numbers, and the gloves will come off.

 

[QuasarVM]

I thought the film was a masterpiece. All the complaints about bad story and dialogue are bitter bunk from people who are unable to lose themselves in the majesty of cinema.

I wanna write a review, but I have so much to say and I'm so lazy...

I lost myself in the film just fine, but there's no such thing (nor should there ever be) as a film that's so visually striking that I never once at any point question the storytelling/acting side of things.

A film can be a powerhouse of sights and sounds and still have a story and good acting to hold it up for repeat viewings.

You know, you're absolutely right!

That's why when I was watching JJ Trek, I took issue with things like:

1. Uhura deciding which ship she was going to do her tour of duty on just prior to boarding a shuttle to her assigned tour of duty and Spock just saying "Um...ok!". That was retarded.

2. Spock on Delta Vega seeing Vulcan destroyed in the sky.

3. The way Kirk became Captain.

4. The way Kirk met up with Spock Prime...gee, what a coincidence!

I may actually be forgetting some other little gems that were thorns in my side during the first viewing.

Now, I am not trashing Trek -- I enjoyed it overall -- but some aspects of the writing were beyond lazy.

Anyway, I never had any problems with the story of Avatar like the items listed above...it all made sense.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Above Average. Solid story, however cliche and predictable, with good acting and excellent action.

 

[The Evil Dead]

I liked the movie, more than I expected to even. The story was engaging enough, though I have a few major issues in the area of character motivation. The one thing that I absolutely loathed about the movie was the main villain. I'm not sure how it all went so wrong, whether the acting or the writing was more to blame, but the character as presented was such a snarling, over-the-top cartoon stereotype that he ruined nearly every scene that featured him. Unfortunately, his scenes accounted for a large chunk of the running time.

He bothered me a lot too. I think that the actor did a fine job, I feel like it was the script's fault. Cripes, not even a cliched "The Na'vi killed my son!" subplot? I'm being tongue in cheek here, but something would've been nice. Why was he such an asshole? But it could just me my own personal bias, and what I like from my stories. Maybe this story is just meant to be more of a straight up good vs. evil scenario. I've always liked the Londo Mollari's, Benjamin Linus' and Gaius Baltar's more than the Emperor Palpatine's and Sauron's of fiction.

I had similar issues with Michelle Rodriguez's character, why did she defect? I know her and Sully were buddies, but did they even have more than one scene together? A few motivating story beats for more of the supporting characters would've helped the movie a lot in my opinion.