James Cameron's "Avatar" review

[Curlypaul]

I saw this with no idea what the plot was going to be - I always avoid trailers of things that I know I want to see as they spoil the plot when I'm actually watching it.

I really enjoyed it, the plot was interesting if predictable, the CGI world was convincing and seemless with the real life action and the battles were awesome.

[Anayo]

Was I the only one a little turned on by the Navi women?

Others have said they thought the Navi were ugly. I thought they were pretty sleek and sexy myself.

I agree, but that it makes sense in light of the fact that the Na'vi were less like real aliens and more like allegorical humans, so when Jake fell in love with one of them the audience had to be able to relate. They couldn't have him fall for a tentacle monster or something like that. (Unless it was like Galaxy Quest, then it'd be hilarious.)

[MrPopo]

Was I the only one a little turned on by the Navi women?

Others have said they thought the Navi were ugly. I thought they were pretty sleek and sexy myself.

I agree, but that it makes sense in light of the fact that the Na'vi were less like real aliens and more like allegorical humans, so when Jake fell in love with one of them the audience had to be able to relate. They couldn't have him fall for a tentacle monster or something like that. (Unless it was like Galaxy Quest, then it'd be hilarious.)

Or if it was a Japanese flick.

[Anayo]

Or if it was a Japanese flick.

You would.

[J T]

It's obvious that Crux has never run into the Axeman or Hatchetman.

Or the Scissorman.

Hate you so much.

[crux]

Wait, wait, wait. I meant to say Star TREK was mediocre. Lord, I love the original Star Wars trilogy. Hate the rest of them, and hate that Lucas does everything in his power to fuck up the originals, but love the original trilogy all the same.

[Hatta]

Yeah, I saw this with no previous information except that it was James Cameron and he had been working on it for 10 years. Figured Abyss, Aliens, and Terminator was enough to balance out the crapfest that was Titanic. So I went and saw it in 3d IMAX.

Long story short, I figured out that it was Dances with Wolves in less than half an hour. Didn't care. The audio-visual spectacle is all that mattered. Verdict, see it in 3d IMAX or don't see it at all. If you can, eat some mushrooms too, I wish I had.

[Anayo]

Am I the only one that inferred a second life/video game addiction analogy to this movie? I thought it was interesting how the main character started getting so addicted to turning into a bigger, stronger, handsomer, more ambulatory blue version of himself in a fantasy world at the expense of his own human body (like when Sigourney Weaver has to remind him to eat and shower.)

[crux]

For the record, I can enjoy plenty of "popcorn" movies. I liked Alien and Aliens, I enjoyed the recent Batman movies (and have a fondness for the Tim Burton versions), I thought Ironman is decent, and I even enjoyed the recent Hulk. I still think Avatar was far too shallow to be decent. The graphics were, indeed, spectacular, but a movie can only eschew good character development and a coherent plot for so long.

For a while I've been trying to figure out why the recent Spiderman franchise is so popular (I think they're really, really awful - and are partially responsible for my declining respect for the careers of Willem Defoe and Tobey Maguire), and the only thing I can come up with is that I simply lack respect for campy comic books. That's what makes them non-shitty, right? The movies are supposed to be inane?

And Anayo: Incredibly good point. So good, in fact, that if it was the actual intent of the movie I would have a great deal more respect of it. (The screenplay was supposed to suck because it's a videogame, of course!)

[J T]

The Making of Avatar Bootleg