Avatar - The Most Successful Failure Ever

no it's no secret that I've got a bit of a love affair with James Cameron movies in fact I've spent nearly 10 hours ejaculate in over aliens in Terminator 2 you know but when sermon er actually told a viable story instead of over writing their own continuity and soiling their legacy with increasingly desperate attempts to jumpstart a new franchise anyway back to James Cameron the man has been responsible for some of the greatest blockbuster movies ever made using a unique combination of fast paced hard-hitting action groundbreaking new technology meticulous attention to detail inspired casting choices strong writing and iconic characters to bring his artistic visions to life nice one Jim the problem with all this success is that eventually it can go to your head with no one left who has the balls to call you I challenge your ideas or rein in your ego when you need it you're free to be as impulsive excessive and self-indulgent as you like and the quality of your creative output inevitably suffers just ask George Lucas in Cameron's case the end result of this uncontrolled burst of ego driven creativity was avatar the most successful bad movie ever made but drinker you indefatigable Renaissance man I hear you see avatar made almost three billion dollars how can you possibly claim it's bad when it's one of the biggest movies ever made because my simple-minded friend box-office revenue doesn't determine whether a film is objectively goods I can't believe I'm actually having to see this but gate receipts don't make something a meaningful artistic endeavor if they did then Resident Evil would be just as culturally significant as Schindler's List the sad reality of cinema is that sometimes bad films make lots of money and really good films don't make any and this particular bad film made a shitload of money see the world went absolutely nuts for avatar back in 2009 and to this day I still don't know exactly why it's like we all switched off our brains Fortuna half-hours steered all the pretty colors and somehow bought into the collective delusion that we just witnessed the greatest spectacle in modern cinema people were even claiming to suffer from [ __ ] depression when they had to leave Pandora and go back to the mundane reality of their real lives yeah it's right growing up in Scotland your dicks anyway no it's a decade later and we've had plenty of other spectacles to marvel at and since we've been hearing more and more noise about the first of four sequels this due to hit cinemas next year I guess this is as good a time as any to revisit the original avatar and see if I can make sense of this [ __ ] so grab your shots of unobtainium and let's begin avatar kicks off in the mid 22nd century and things are looking bad for the human race Earth's natural resources have been depleted force in mankind to spread her into the galaxy in order to survive the search for new resources eventually leads to the jungle world of Pandora and the discovery of a new energy source called unobtainium I find whatever the only problem is the primitive natives of Pandora a race of giant blue Smurf people called the Navi who are kind of hostile to the humans encroaching on their territory Oh No a group of technologically advanced invaders gradually displacing the peaceful but primitive indigenous peoples from their land so they can plunder it for wealth and resources whatever could this be a reference to any way to help explore Pandora the humans have invented artificial Navi bodies that they can download their consciousness into avatars if you will why go to the trouble of creating massively complex and expensive alien bodies to walk around in when satellite mapping aerial reconnaissance unmanned drones robotic probes and [ __ ] respirators are already available and easily to use because the script needs the plot to happen I guess anyway this is where we meet the plank of wood that as the main character Jake Sully is a paralyzed war veteran whose twin brother was originally going to pilot one of these avatars but then he got killed and because it's only compatible with his genetic code jake is given the chance to control it instead okay it's kind of clunky but I can live with her I guess so Jake accepts the offer and goes to Pandora and this is where we get introduced to the three main factions at work first there's the group of scientists led by Ellen Ripley who operate the avatars and try to maintain a peaceful relationship with the Navi then there's the military led by Colonel Quaritch who are supposed to protect the mining operation for the unobtanium but basically just what an excuse to kill things lastly there's Parker Selfridge a slimy corporate [ __ ] who runs the show and doesn't much care what happens as long as his company keeps making money so basically we've got a peaceful environmentally harmonious indigenous people under threat from the 20 vows of greedy corporate capitalism and a destructive war mongering military you know we tend to think of preachy political grandstanding in movies as being a pretty modern phenomenon but James Cameron was doing this [ __ ] way back in 2009 anyway Jake downloads into his avatar and off he goes but soon enough his recon team gets attacked by a CGI monster and he's forced to go on the run which brings him into contact with this sexy blue minx her name's not eerie and she's about to shoot him but a jellyfish floats by and it's like nah well that was lucky timing anyway and the theory takes him into her tribe and starts to teach him her ways so he can learn more about their culture what does this remind me of know I got nothing I love how he's been there for like five minutes and he's already managed to achieve more than the other scientists have done in years isn't plot convenience a wonderful thing no Quaritch thinks this is all fantastic and orders Jake to spy on the Navi for him why don't know they're [ __ ] primitive hunters mate it's not like they have strategic war plans forget to uncover anyway I think you can see the moral conundrum here the more time Jake spends with the Navi the more he finds himself sympathizing with their situation and questioning his loyalty to the humans and it doesn't hurt that he's got this fine piece of blue ass to come back to what's this a beautiful native girl who takes the romantic liking to the mysterious outsider providing a conduit for him to integrate into her culture where have I seen this before the final straw comes when the humans send a comically huge excavator into Navi territory and Jake attacks it what does this remind me of so with the Navi up in arms the battle lines are drawn Quaritch puts Jake and the scientists under arrest and convinces Selfridge to authorize an airstrike on the Navi which kills a whole bunch of them and knocks their giant tree over like a big building coming down what does this remind me of things are looking bad for our intrepid heroes but then Michelle Rodriguez shows up playing an angry tough-talking Sarah Connor wannabe you know just like every other rule of her entire career she rescues the gang from prison and they escape but Ellen Ripley gets wounded in the crossfire so they took her to a different giant tree and then Navi tried to transfer her mind into her avatar body permanently what the [ __ ] how is any of this happening I mean how is there even a mechanism for something like this when have you ever been required to transfer a human consciousness into a biological remote-controlled robot have you done this kind of thing before with other people can anyone download into anything else I know which body I'd go for anyway it doesn't work and she dies oh no I hope Jake doesn't get put into a similar position at the end of the movie because that would be terrible well I suppose I should at least give camera and some credit for setting up this plot devices in advance instead of just pulling out of his arse with no warning like JJ Abrams probably would have done so I guess it's time for the big finale quark since always forces to bomb what's left of the Navi into oblivion while Jake rallies all of the warriors to defend it becoming a savior to them a white Savior if you will then there's a bunch of fight scenes and Michelle Rodriguez gets blown up and there's a funny shot where Anna tiri gets stunned by a nearby explosion and sees the battle happening in a slow motion days where have I seen this before naturally the bomber gets blown up but the last seconds and it all comes down to a fistfight between Quaritch and Jake a human in a mech suit versus a dangerous alien a whereof I know I never mind sooo chorus gets the upper hand by damaging the pod that hoses Jake's human form and exposing him to the toxic atmosphere well lucky he happened to crush lands so close to that thingy but it's okay because natira shows up at the last second and makes sure that he gets the points and the movie ends with Jake going through the magical download process which works this time because he remembered to wear his plot armor and that's it that's the plot for dances with Fern Gully Pocahontas aliens while Saving Private Ryan from 9/11 no it's a well known fact that I'm a cheerful optimistic soul who tries to see the very best in everything so traditionally I like to start my reviews by highlighting the positive aspects of a movie it looks nice I guess I've never gotten particularly excited over stuff like shot composition color palettes or camera angles and generally I'm off the opinion that most big-budget movies made in the past 15 years look tolerably goods were the few exceptions of course but even I recognize that avatar is a visual masterpiece filled with vibrant colors breathtaking landscapes and fascinating alien ecosystems yeah it doesn't make much sense when you think about the logistics behind it but pouring down your brain and watching it unfold for the first time in a 3d movie theater was a pretty impressive experience helped by an excellent soundtrack that really captures the feeling of wonder and adventure which is just as well because the rest of this movies a steaming pile of Donkey [ __ ] the biggest bone of contention with avatar has to be its story which feels like a cheesy simplistic amalgamation of ideas pilfered from five or six other better movies a flawed but sympathetic protagonist drawn into a brewing conflict between two antagonistic peoples gradually questioning his preconceptions as he learns more about his supposedly brutal and savage hosts a cautionary environmental message about the dangers of callously exploiting the resources of a lush but dangerous paradise without considering the wider implications of these actions a romantic love affair between two characters from vastly different cultures set against the backdrop of an epic confrontation it's all been done a million times before and while I acknowledged that there's nothing inherently wrong about reusing classic tropes and ideas and if you break them down far enough most movies contain the same basic foundational plot elements but Jesus you can at least try to put an original spin on it you could introduce a bit of nuance and complexity encouraging the audience to look at a well-worn story from a fresh perspective or you can do what Abbot R does and take the simplest quickest and easiest route to your end goal using every dirty trick in the book to get a reaction take the Navi for example they're practically a textbook example of how to emotionally manipulate your audience they're similar enough to us in general appearance that viewers can impose human identity on them and see them as people even if they technically aren't they're graceful and aesthetically pleasing so the romantic relationship between Jake and natira doesn't come across as weird and uncomfortable because let's face it if now he happens to look like this or this or this then avatar would be a very different movie they even have big innocent trusting eyes typically associated with animals because nobody likes to see an animal getting hurt or killed lastly they're portrayed as living in peaceful harmony with their environments while the humans are violent and destructive seeking what they want and killing anyone who stands in their way as an interesting little comparison consider the aliens from district 9 they certainly don't look attractive and they don't seem to have any redeeming qualities at first glance but the difference here is that district 9 script actually puts in the work to help you understand their origins and empathize with their situation and by the end you're rooting for them just as much as the protagonist it doesn't matter that they look like giant prawns the Navi on the other hand to come across as kind of creepy and manipulative when you consider the motivation behind them you're expected to like them because they look nice and they're being oppressed by evil people that's it no this is where strong characterization could really help out many adults Tori has been elevated by complex characters and great performances and in this case we've got I'm honestly struggling to think of something interesting to say about geeks Sully as far as protagonists go he's kind of a blackhole of personality and charisma I mean he got injured and he's in a wheelchair now so that's something I guess but even that doesn't seem to give us much to work with I never got a sense of a once-proud and formidable man struggling with the limitations of his physical condition or bitter about the opportunities that he's lost it's not helped by an anemic performance from Sam Worthington who generally acts like he can't quite believe he's starring in a big-budget movie and as a result neither can I he doesn't have the charisma the screen presence the magnetism or the acting chops to carry a movie like this and the problems only get worse when he's buried under a layer of CGI if I was feeling super charitable I'd say Jake was intentionally written to be as generic as possible played by an unmemorable actor so he could become a kind of avatar for the audience to project themselves on soo but that's probably given the film too much credits the teary isn't much better she gets the occasional feisty moment but honestly I never got a sense of who she was what drives and motivates her what she values and fears I mean she falls in love with Jake because the script needs it to happen but I don't really understand why also this is kind of a nitpick but if you're gonna give her an outfit that leaves their boobs exposed don't resort to the old strategic nipple cover in routine it just makes her look like a character from a JRPG no I'd love to see that the antagonist totally saves this movie but that would be a big old lie I mean Stephen Lang certainly gives it his best shot and compared to Worthington he's definitely a commanding presence but the script doesn't really give him much to work with Quaritch isn't the kind of guy I wanted to know more about because there's nothing to know there's no tragic backstory no personality flaws or outside pressures that put him on a collision course with the Navi he's just a guy that likes to blow stuff up the best antagonists are the ones with understandable motivations the kind of guys you almost feel like you could agree with if things were slightly different like fan oz from infinity war for example he's personally witnessed the devastating effects of overpopulation in a world of finite resources so he sets out to correct the problem on a universal scale using the most brutal of methods he doesn't really want to do it and he certainly takes no pleasure in it but he knows he's the only one with the will and the means to see it through and he's utterly ruthless in the pursuit of his goal he's still doing a terrible thing but he's doing it to serve a higher purpose and you can at least see his point of view even if you don't supports it wouldn't it be interesting if Quora CH had an equally compelling motivation like if he cared deeply about the troops under his command and only committed to open warfare as a last resort or he lost people close to him because of the Navi ultimately setting him on a path of revenge or he was acutely aware of the desperate situation on earth and was willing to do anything necessary to help humanity survive wouldn't a little bit of moral ambiguity make him a more interesting nuanced and fleshed out character without undermining his role as an antagonist now just serve up a cartoon bad guy that's irredeemably evil so the audience can feel angry when he does bad things and sheer when he dies and I guess that pretty much sums up the entire movie really avatar is all about surface level spectacle and shallow emotion dazzling the viewer with grand visuals but failing to deliver anything deeper that's worth reflecting on sick away the 3d and the big cinema screen and what you're left with is basically a two and a half hour tech demo loosely strung together by a thin derivative plot that borrows elements from far superior movies and simplistic characters that do the bare minimum to get you invested a movie that doesn't earn the big emotional payoffs it tries to deliver because it refuses to put in the work to get you there for all the money and creativity that clearly went into its production avatar ultimately tells the cheap manipulative shallow lazy story and it's such a shame because with just a bit more work and thought put into the writing I think it could have been so much more but hey it made money lots of money the problem is that its success was mostly a combination of good luck good timing and good word of mouth unfortunately it's pretty rare for those three factors to line up twice in a row especially when you leave a 12 year gap between your movies I suspect James Cameron might learn this the hard way when avatar two finally comes out either way the drinker will be there to give his opinion on it anyway that's all I've got for today go away No

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 2,993,276

Keywords: review, Jake Sully, Signourney Weaver, James Cameron, Sam Worthington, Naavi, Pandora

Id: xNeEGBDTnig

Length: 18min 38sec (1118 seconds)

Published: Mon May 18 2020