Avatar Movie Review

There’s something to the responses you’re going to hear that rather negatively call out Avataravatar reviews as having the same story as Dances with WolvesDances With Wolves reviews and any number of “going native” films, though it should be remembered that none of them are particularly original stories themselves. Apart from going to an alien world to meet your natives, and becoming one of them by transferring your mind into a created body, there isn’t that much that separates Avatar from any number of films, and that’s something you have to look at more openly than some may care to.

After all, people have liked those other films that will be mentioned, and at best they are equally similar to each other.

What I suspect will come flooding forward among what negative reviews Avatar receives is a kind of misplaced response, but one that is understandable. The truth is, the problem is not that Avatar is simply Dances with AliensAliens reviews, it is that it is that same story told so poorly.

As is probably not surprising, given that this is James Cameron, everything about the story is delivered in the simplest possible terms, whether that manages to make any sense or not. Ideas are played out because they sound cool, and there isn’t really much thought about what they do to the overall structure.

The humans who are attacking the natives on this planet that is a five-year voyage from EarthEarth reviews have mechanized armor suits, because that looks really cool. They are after some rare mineral, and they find a huge deposit of it under the giant tree the natives live in, because otherwise there is no story. When the natives don’t seem inclined to let them destroy their home, the only alternative is to destroy them, because then they are not just the bad guys, but the really bad guys.

This is all well and good in a movie like Aliens, or The TerminatorThe Terminator reviews, where we just zip along for the ride, but Avatar thinks itself rather clever, and demands you to think. Frankly, it’s rather condescending about it too. There is a good deal that might be forgiven with the right approach, but Avatar is so slow, the “bad” is so overblown, and it’s ultimately so oddly preachy, that at some point less and less makes any sense at all. You want to let it go and throw off your disbelief, but it gets pretty hard.

We can send people on five-year space missions, but we can’t drill over to some ore? Or, fire a couple of really cool missiles at them from fifty miles away instead of going in so that we can have our obligatory war scene? Or, find some other places to get this ore on the whole planet despite this cache being pretty close to where we setup our base? What does distance matter?

But, you might quite correctly be thinking, this is all the same sort of thing one has to put up with in any movie. Well, fair enough probably. It doesn’t help things that the really bad guy is in a final showdown that is utterly pointless, and I mean pointless in the sense that your reinforcements are five years away, but it says something about big showdowns in some book on scriptwriting, so what can you do?

When it all comes together though, it’s not only trite, it’s delivered from such a cornball perspective that it doesn’t have full understanding of what it’s being trite about. Imagine, for example, if Dances with Wolves really came across as having an agenda. I know, you can’t access that sentence with a straight face, can you? But, imagine if Dances with Wolves initially came out with this ’spirit of the Earth’, interconnectedness of all life philosophy, but after a bit Dunbar was actually taken to meet The Earth Mother, and the goddess came up and said, “Hello. Yes, I’m the Earth Mother, and let me show you exactly how all life actually is connected, and you can see the whole design… Boo! I’m God!”

Well, then the opposition isn’t a misguided group with an alternate, but at least semi-legitimate viewpoint (especially if they’re whack, money hungry warmongers, of course), they’re just idiots. That’s rather a different story, and frankly a silly one.

Avatar sure looks pretty though.

Now, all that aside, it’s a fun movie. TerminatorTerminator reviews doesn’t necessarily withstand a lot of scrutiny either, but it’s a good ride. If you’re just out for a good time, this is your movie. It has incredible special effects, and you can really see the time that was put into the effort. Let yourself drink in the sights, and play right along with plot you knew every piece of anyway. There’s a worthy encounter there. But, when it slows down and wants you to think about something (and pretends there is some intelligence to the story and that the characters aren’t ridiculously hollow), don’t fall for that trap.

Rating:

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Tagged as: Add new tag, Avatar, James Cameron, Movie Review

Carlos Gomez

hahahahahahahahahaha, funny.
I guess envy is talking from this guys mouth.
(Excuse my little english, Im only good at it while reading)
Avatar is a great movie.
It is visuable amazing, YOU want to be there, YOU want to touch those animals, plants, you want to climb those threes and flying mountains.
It has great and solid characteres. Neitiri is incredible -and the actress does a great job-, its the first time in very long time that I dont get sick of the woman character in a adventure movie. Same with the main character. He is sweet, charming and a leader, but he has soul and is very human.
The storyline is very well written, when it was so hard get Jack on his Avatar again after the general took him from it the first time... etc.
I could keep going, but is late, I you better see with your own eyes.

PD. Please Mr. MARC EASTMAN dont let your mediocrity eat you alive, and dont tarnish others people great job because of your envy.

Carlos

PD2. And you gave the same number of stars to It's complicated that to Avatar? That MUST be a joke.

Luke

I think you're wrong. I think this story was told wonderfully. See it again, knowing what to expect. Try to love these characters for who they are... not who they are supposed to be... and trust me, you'll have a wonderful time at the moves.

avatar review

I think the reviewer's comments have some merit in the simplicity of the plot. Yet we need to remember it is a movie. Yes a "I have nothing to do tonight so will go watch a movie". To try and derive a sense of direction and meaning to the issues that confront the world will not be solved by watching Avatar. Come on!!!

I enjoyed the move, took on the themes of environment, spirit of the people and their bond to the planet, etc. Would watch it again.

diansofia

Why so sour? A lot of work went into this movie and I appreciate the core creativity that was Cameron's vision. If it was so easy someone else would've come up with a movie like that (and by like that I mean the minute detail of Pandora: zoology, biology, sociology, culture and the physics they worked into the hypothetical military gear) and the execution and delivery is simply, breathtaking.

I didn't find anything preachy... it's just another angle to look at one of our own terrestrial/global issues i.e. the environment; a familiar theme much like what you find in Happy Feet or whatever else like Fern Gully. The message is the same, not a new idea being preached just a general theme.

Yes, you can criticize it to death for being boring/condescending/same old story/Dances With Wolves heck, just lighten up and enjoy a movie-- what do you go to a cinema for if not the experience? So they have mechanized armored robots you happen to find cool-- why is that bad? I didn't find it outstandingly awesome, but it made for great cinema.

Maybe you can stop watching movies and join the UN Commission or something.

areyouscreening

To a certain extent I appreciate your point of view, and I did give the idea that as a popcorn bit of fun it was actually not bad. Thus, generally, it has some stars in the rating and not none.

It is, for the very simple what it is, a fine enough time, it just has a lot of flaws.

As to your comment more generally, can you not just find every negative review of every movie and say, "Hey man, it's just a movie. Why so sour?"

In other words, your comment doesn't seem to really aim at this review, but just the very idea that there are negative reviews.

diansofia

Hey, it's your site-- If you're posting a negative review, be prepared to justify your opinion.

I just went to look for Avatar reviews because I thought it was really great and I wanted to check out if 3D would be worth going and found this instead. I was surprised that someone else wasn't amazed and what's more was offended by Avatar so I commented.

Also, I never said "Hey man it was just a movie", I said it was great cinema and a lot of hard work went into it-- I'm gonna go watch it in 3D too, everyone says it's the way to go!

areyouscreening

I justified my opinion in the review, and rather well I thought. The point is that I'd love to defend my opinion, except that you didn't attack it. You only attacked, basically, any negative review of anything.

No, you didn't say the exact words, "Hey man it was just a movie," but, "it was great cinema and a lot of hard work went into it," doesn't particularly change the sentiment.

"It's great cinema," doesn't really tell me anything, and therefore doesn't really provide a lot of support.

Keithmats

I have to say, despite what many critics say about avatar, its a must see. Even if you think the plot sucks, well, at least go to see the best visual graphics and effects ever seen in a movie.

I do agree very much that its a cowboys and indians all over again, however, people liked it back then, right? And Avatar is the modern, realistic i might add, take on this.

Everything in the movie has a point as far as I can see, very little is added just for show. Many things that might seem pointless in the beginning end up having a point in the end.

Even if Avatar is just a overplayed cowboys and indians scene, I could go to watch a few more hours of the Na'Vi life and training of Jake in their ways. The absolutely amazing graphics and sound quality coupled with the good old "Training" phase of the movie is great.

Avatar reminds me more of a book, a long, complete thought with defenite phases to the movie, not just jumbled together like many movies these days. You can relate to the characters because you have enough time to get to know them, the movie is by no means rushed.

Even though so many see it as just another retake on an old story and shrug it off, it has great value as a romance movie if thats what you want to make it. There are a few moments where Cameron has you about to burst with anticipation, wanting to yell at the character to not do it, and then he turns it into an epic save and the romance continues.

Stricly speaking, Avatar has all the tricks in it. It gets the viewers to feel emotion with the actors and get involved in the story. Too many people are focusing on the plot or the graphics or whatever it may be, they are focusing too much on one single point of the movie, but when taken as a whole, Avatar is the best movie to come out in a long time.

Hey, I see the viewpoints of everyone and understand, but take it as a whole and just enjoy it. Seriously, what movie have you seen lately thats better than it anyway?

Steve Capell

Just got back from seeing Avatar ... and I love the plot. The hero in the wheel chair brought back memories for me of Gary Guller the man that made to to the top of world by climbing Mt Everest even though he is missing one arm. This movie has some of best scenes that I have seen in a movie. I will most likely see this one again.