It is basically impossible for me to "spoil" the story in "Avatar" because we've all seen this story many times before. What we have here is basically "Tarzan", "Dances with Wolves", and "Pocahontas" all rolled in to one and set in some planet out in space where the creatures are bigger and the natives are... bigger. The story was so trite that it literally took two plus hours of non-stop visual bombardment of the highest order before the movie finally got its hooks in to me. As one friend of mine jokingly said, it felt like I sat through multiple Cameron movies at once, there was the tough Latina with a heart of gold and a nice rack, then there was Sigourney Weaver naked, albeit in ten foot blue alien form, etc. etc.
But finally, after the typical "everything's gone to hell because it's the end of second act" moment, my cynicism barrier finally broke down and the sheer visual spectacle which was taking place before my eyes brought me to my knees. I sat there teary eyed as the "savage but good" natives finally triumph over the "just doing my job" intruders and the whole thing came to a roaring conclusion. Sounds like I had a good time in the end, right? Well, I guess so, except why do I feel so empty inside having watched a movie which is supposed to be so... uplifting? I know why. It's because "Avatar" ultimately exceeded my expectations but at the very same time failed to live up to my need for a new and different take on a given genre which for me is one of the most important criteria when it comes to deciding if I'll give something my approval or not.
Don't get me wrong. "Avatar" by all means is a monumental achievement in cinema history. The question is not whether it is or it isn't, but for what. The budget certainly was monumental at a reported $500 million dollars. What ended up on screen definitely shows what you can get for that kind of cash. The acting may even be on some level "monumental" seeing how this was really the first time that a CG animated character achieved a certain level of gravitas in my opinion due to some rather complicated technology I'm told was developed specifically for the movie. It may not have crossed the uncanny valley yet but it certainly comes pretty close. But all these things are really matters of craftsmanship, not really of say originality or even, dare I say it, art.
And that is ultimately at the heart of why on some level "Avatar" was a major disappointment for me. They've gone so far out of their way to be so monumental in everything except it seems for what is for me at the heart of the cinematic experience, that is to say the "heart" of it. At the end of all the spectacle, I couldn't help but feel like I've just been railroaded through what Hollywood knows works on people which have had the latest and greatest coat of paint applied to it just because that's just what they do to pay the bills. They don't believe any of the stuff that the story is supposedly espousing. It's just another giant corporation showing the general public a movie about how bad they are because that's what sells. In a way it is the worst kind of cynical thing there is. And I myself, being just another "lonely clueless human being with no personal compass of my own", is supposed to lap it up, pay my fifteen dollars, and shut the hell up. Well, I guess I've just done that, maybe not for the shut the hell up part but, hey, they got their money, what do they care, right?
Perhaps it's my growing cynicism as I grow older in age but I've been wanting more and more realism out of my fantasy entertainment then when I was a younger simpler man. I've been noticing that when a fantasy like "Avatar" strikes me as ultimately being just that, an escapist fantasy with no bearing what so ever on how things will turn out in the end in the real world, I tend to loose interest in them now. And that is perhaps why I can't quite get myself to give "Avatar" a thumbs up, because it is on some level an example of the kind of hypocrisy which seems to be present in so much of what popular culture puts out, a kind of aspirin for the immature souls who can't come to terms with the dark repercussions of their existence and its effects on the world so they must be shown made up images and told fictitious stories that someone some where is doing good in their behalf even if it's all make believe and don't really exist.
At the same time, I can't really give "Avatar" a thumbs down either because it really is a monumental achievement in cinematic craftsmanship which really should be encouraged. And that is why I must break with my personal code of only giving "yay or nay" and go with the "three stars out of five" in this case. I suppose this is technically a recommendation, and I am certainly recommending that people go see it. But, at the same time I'm also saying that in this post-colonial, post-modern, post-cold war, post-nineteenth and twentieth century, post Jules friggin' Verne times we're living in, maybe it's time, and sorry for the language, to cut this shit out. Edgar Rice Burroughs was far better at stories like this almost a century ago and all he had were words. He's going to be better then the lot of us, Mr. Cameron included, long after we're all gone and buried. So, how about everybody give this kind stuff a rest and somebody try something new for a change? Hmm? Please? Pretty please with sugar on? No? Yeah, well, that figures. :p
Posts
