The movie takes place on a ravaged Earth in , and follows a paraplegic Marine Sam Worthington , who, through a blue-skinned avatar, explores a resource-rich planet called Pandora. There he meets and falls in star-crossed love with one of the planet's natives Zoe Saldana , forcing him to rethink his imperialistic mission.
The obvious reason people were hyping "Avatar" was because it was visually spectacular thanks to technical achievements. Cameron made a movie that blended two worlds - one that was entirely live action and one that used computer-generated images and motion-capture technology against real backdrops to create Pandora and its inhabitants, the blue Na'vi.
The images turned out to be stunning. Cameron wanted the two worlds to become almost indistinguishable, and the use of motion-capture for alien characters really brought the fantastical to life. How Andy Serkis didn't end up with a supporting role is a mystery. These aspects won "Avatar" three Oscars in for cinematography, visual effects and art direction. But the other reason people were talking about the movie was its social and political themes.
You might compare the effect to "American Sniper," which inspired scores of think pieces and heated debates, which in turn led to more ticket sales. In order for people to weigh in on the various "Avatar" controversies, they had to see the movie. That way they could speak authoritatively on what "Avatar" said about race; if the whole white savior storyline was problematic; and whether the movie, with its heavy-handed eco-friendly messages, didn't smell vaguely of patchouli.
Fans who recommended "Avatar" to friends always had the same directive: Go see it right away. This was not the kind of movie that would inspire people to say, "I'll just wait till it's on Netflix. That was a boon for "Avatar" in the short term. It created urgency at the time, which in turn led to huge ticket sales. People probably gave the same advice when recommending "Star Wars" in All those chase scenes and visuals were custom-made for a movie theater.
The difference is that, although people came for the spectacle, "Star Wars" was just as enjoyable at home given its memorable characters, quotable dialogue and thrilling suspense. The same can't really be said about "Avatar," which isn't really worth renting, given that What did "Avatar" remind people of?
And that's exactly how the movie felt - though not necessarily in a good way. It was as if the writer-director cherry-picked items from other stories and threw them into one semi-coherent whole. I was at the exact right age for that movie to hit correctly. I was 13, so I was just old enough to start really appreciating the impressive technical aspects of it, but also not old enough to really understand how to be critical of it.
Is there any reason for Sam Worthington to be our voiceover narrator, despite the fact he is A already our protagonist, and B in an astoundingly straightforward film that would be easy to follow without it? The elephant in the room is the thing we were all sold on in the first place: the visuals.
Abrams Star Trek film. In a way, though, I think time and moviemaking technology have progressed enough to take some of the shine and pressure off of Avatar , and that reveals it for what it really is— fine! Gabe, as a casual Avatar viewer, are you? I understand that as one of the highest-grossing movies in the world, you have to make a sequel or two. As a series, it feels like Avatar is a completely transparent look inside the modern-day Hollywood franchising machine.
But the flora and fauna of Pandora, the wild colors and unimaginable beasts and floating mountains and glowing trees, that it hardly matters what story surrounds them. Even the human technology in the film is cleverly based on what we already have, so instead of impossible tricks, Cameron astonishes you by showing you everything you wish your MacBook could do. In an era so inundated with CGI we've become jaded at seeing the impossible-- a giant gorilla climbing a building is no more impressive than the outfit worn by his heroine-- but Cameron, in his boundless imagination and gigantic budget, has made us capable of believing once again that movies can be magic.
The glasses are still bulky and goofy-looking, but five minutes into Avatar you'll forget they're there entirely. In the last few years digital 3D has looked great, yes, and once in a while can get you with a shock gag, but before Avatar I'd never attempted to wipe away the errant dirt flying on a battlefield, or flinch instinctively when a type of wood sprite came soaring toward me.
The 3D gave a nice depth of field to Carl's flying house in Up and upped the scare factor in My Bloody Valentine , but in Avatar , it's technology as important as the motion-capture programs that created Neytiri.
You have to see it to understand. Jake may be a blank lunkhead and Neytiri a strident warrior woman, but when these two start to connect while running through the forest and taming flying banshees, it's a love story that transcends faraway planets and blue cat people entirely. Cameron blessedly spares us the details of exactly how Na'vi sex works, but Jake and Neytiri's kisses feel real and passionate, and especially near the end, when the two are forced to fight for each other and the entire Na'vi culture, their connection isn't just palpable, but crucial to the final third of the film working at all.
As Jake starts to feel more connected to his Avatar body than his crippled human form, it's Neytiri's love that draws him there-- and we're right there with him. Think of all the movies you've seen lately in which the fight scenes are cut so fast you can't tell if that's a kick or a punch, or battle sequences in which the only way to tell where anybody is is to look at the color of the uniforms.
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