Long Avatar review

(At first I wanted to make this an ordinary review, but it soon turned out way too long for our standard system. So I post it here instead.)

For a long time, I avoided watching this movie - can't say the exact reason why, after all it wasn't because the movie wasn't shown in any film theaters. But now I watched it (even on Blu-Ray and on a nice big screen), and immediately wrote up this review, when my impression was freshest.

At first: Now I can understand why so many people out there are Longing For Pandora, or saw the movie 27 times. There are quite some good reasons for liking the movie, and I'll mention all of them, because they deserve it.

• The movie being set in space, which is cool in itself. The big planet in the sky, the Cool Starship... Note that even the bioluminiscence of the Na'vi reminds of stars in the sky, very fittingly.
• Then, the motif of flying - the old dream of humanity - all throughout the movie. The Erdenschwere*
  ^{lit: heaviness of the Earth related to gravity, being earth-bound}
  goes away, completely. They state it, after all: Gravity on Pandora is lower. Even the rocks on Pandora are floating. And a formerly disabled man can walk again - it's like a miracle! Even the hammocks of the Na'vi are a nice detail related to this.
• While we're at flying: The dragons (or dinosaurs? Eh, Dinosaurs Are Dragons anyway).
• The future has achieved equal opportunity! Even the humans, despite being the evil ones, have women and minorities (most noteworthy: a disabled man!) among them. And then look at the Na'vi - is there anything except child-bearing which can't be done by both sexes?
• The pictures of Pandora - just that. The CGI guys have done some great work animating everything - the sky, the clouds, the mist, the water - and of course the nature. All the green and blue - it's like a dream. The flora of Pandora is like a baroque piece of art - everything's covered by life, and it looks like they took the best, most fascinating parts of terran nature and raised it by 300%.
• The Na'vi not only are a tight-knit society in space, but also in time. Thanks to the stored memories in the Tree of Souls, people effectively have a link to their ancestors - all of them - and also are assured that they'll live forever. This is understandably speaking to people who were disappointed by their religions (i.e. Christianity). As said: On Pandora, miracles still happen!
• While I'm mentioning Christianity: The movie also has the mother-child motif. Which is an inseperable part of western culture, as old as the motive of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus.
• Also, even such a simple trope as Bigger Is Better applies too. The Na'vi are twice as big as humans - used effectively in the scene where the defeated humans have to leave Pandora. Hint hint. *cough* losers *cough*
• The message of peace and living in harmony with nature. Also appeals to quite many people today.
• On the other hand, the old appeal of heroism. The Na'vi and Jake who fight bravely, run on gigantic branches, and ride dragons. Even Quaritch makes at least a Worthy Opponent.
• The hint of tragedy, when the Hometree is destroyed and everything is covered by white dust, creating a picture of a dead world the goths would like. Yes, we all know it turned out well, but for a moment I really thought... maybe this time, James Cameron would avert a Happy Ending? Now that would've been revolutionary for Hollywood.
• The popular trope Big Damn Heroes is used not once, not twice, but thrice here. First, when they bring down the main fighter; then, when Quaritch is killed; and finally, when Jake is saved.
• Since I already mentioned the neural network between the Na'vi, which they can log into: It's just like with computers and the internet, so of course there's yet another appeal to nerds.
• The Na'vi appeal so much to all fans of cats and lemurs. And allow for Wild Mass Guessing: Are they a stand-in for furries, gays or trans people? And consequently, does that make Jake a closet furry/gay/trans?
• As others have said, Zoe Saldana essentially is a tsundere. I'm not a fan of tsunderes myself, but I know that fans of them definitely exist, so I'm mentioning this still under the positives.
• Finally, a bit of nudity and sex has never hurt a movie.

These are the good points of the movie, which should make sure that it has saved its place in film history, no matter what. (And the sequels won't hurt, guaranteedly.) So much about that, but now let's talk about its bad points.

• Sometimes the Na'vi look cute, cool and cat-like - but other times, they fall into Uncanny Valley. CGI still has room for improvement.
• The whole tree-hugging stuff really went too far.
• Sorry, but a real rainforest would be deadlier. What about all the not-so-nice and cool animals? Like poisonous worms, stinging insects, leeches, snakes, parasites and scorpions? It's a sheer wonder Jake never had any problems, as unexperienced as he was.
• The pacifist message was pretty cheap. Not only that, they had to break it too (and that was the sane thing to do, because otherwise...) Just nice words nobody really minds?
• And on the other hand, the anti-soldier message. (Anti-human soldiers, at least.) Does Earth have a special program in the future, where only the dumbest, crudest, most obnoxious and xenophobic people can become soldiers?
• The character Sigourney Weaver was playing was, to be frankly, quite a bitch. At least that's the first impression she gave to Jake. It's a sheer wonder he ended up on the Na'vi's side, instead of Quaritch's, just out of spite. If you treat a man like a stupid boy, don't be surprised if he acts like one. (Yes, it didn't happen, but it would've been more realistic.)
• It is only fiction. It is only fiction! IT IS ONLY FICTION!!! Sorry, but this had to be said.
• While we're at it: It not only is nothing but fiction, it also distracts people from Real Life. I really wouldn't be astonished if I learned that this movie was the last step to complete otakudom for someone.
• I simply cannot believe that the whole story would be over after the victory of the Na'vi. Earth is way, way too far from being out of resources for another attack. Jake and his allies should know that. And even worse, they're sending all of their prisoners home?? Case of Idiot Ball.
• So the princess of a savage people is played by a black actress? Unfortunate Implications? ;-)
• Even if the movie criticizes the western world often enough: But on the other hand, the Na'vi share quite a lot of their values with westerners: They remember the past of their people (better than we do ours, in fact), which is far from universal - many people in world history made talking about the past a taboo (which could go as far as mentioning the names of people who died); and they do like nature pretty much. (Tree-hugging also isn't as universal as you may think!)

So, all in all, this puts Avatar in the negative, at least for me. Other people may weight the diverse factors differently and come to different conclusions.

Wait wait...the negatives are winning....but its 16v11 by my count.

And not to mention Colonel Quaritch was amazingly badass. I always catch hell from hippy types because he was my favorite character, that and I friggin' hated the holier-than-thou Na'vi. Filthy Xenos scum, they were.

To me the Na'vi are in the same strange place as Elves, different enough to come off as dicks, but not different enough for it to be understandable.

Pretty much.

@syvaris: Everyone can weight the positives and negatives as he likes.

Is it bad that I consider my self an insane hippy but I still think Quaritch was the best damn thing about the movie?

Not really. Quaritch was not a nice or good person, but he was honorable and possessed of legitimate virtues ( courage, loyalty towards his subordinates ). Unlike the "heroes" of the movie, however, he was consistent in his characterization and portrayal. And really, when you get right down to it, Quaritch was *right*. There was no way to get along peacefully with the Na'vi, because they were at heart a warrior culture.

The only morally superior character is Dr Grace, who just wanted to learn about the Na'Vi and Pandora, and help humans and Na'vi get along. Sadly, she was screwed from the beginning, since there really was no way the Na'vi would ever accept humans, and no way humanity would give up on the Unobtanium.

Frankly, I am very leery of the eventual sequel, because the only rational outcome involves a much bigger, non-corporate, force coming to Pandora years later, and nuking everything blue and furry. . .

Effectively, a sequel will either have to end in tragedy (be the Wounded Knee to the first films Little Bighorn) or it will completely shatter the suspension of disbelief.

I will admit my dislike of the first film comes from three main sources, the heavy handed message, the weak acting of the lead, and that it is a rather lame listen. While I think the first two points are heavily tread ground, the final one prevents me from even enjoying the film in the moment. The dialogue is largely either unremarkable, and forgettable (I cannot remember as single quote from the whole first act), or dumb ("They killed their mother",which ties into the ham-handedness of the message, "Fight Terror with terror", which is completely nonsensical in the context of the film and wouldn't even work in a jingoistic rousing speech unless we assume that off screen the Na'vi have been engaging in some form of at least semi-successful guerrilla warfare and displaying the bodies of their fallen foes where the people from Hell's Gate can see them). Additionally, nothing in the score caught my attention, nothing seemed cleaver, and one thing I think makes this a lesser film than Star Wars is the complete lack of Leitmotif.

I agree with most of what's already been said, so sorry if I'm being redundant. It bothers me that the Na'vi are just caricatures of the Noble Savage that's been used to describe indigenous peoples around the world, so it's like Avatar is promoting these old stereotypes, albeit indirectly because the Na'vi are aliens. The Na'vi are too perfect to be believable, and I guess I'm being redundant saying that.

I was thinking that, if Pandora is still being explored, maybe there's a chance of there being another sentient species on it besides the Na'vi. If there was, I imagine they could be the dwarves to the Na'vi's elves, a species that is rougher and not as morally snobby as the Na'vi are despite living on the same planet. They could be more like humans, who really have to struggle to survive and haven't got it nearly as easy. It could be useful in addressing some of the issues to be had with the first film. Basically, a species dedicated to Screw You, Elves!, if the humans can't do it. If I had to design this species, I'd want to make them a Horned Humanoid species. Either that or Fish People. It's just fan wank, so none of it really matters.

edited 28th Sep '11 7:42:21 PM by StarOutlaw

Hell, I'd go all the way and make them a subterranean insectiod non-bipedal race. Much like early man they have to get by while not being especially strong, fast, or connected to nature having to rely on intelligence and stealth (rather than intelligence and endurance like humans).