OK film fans, sometimes there are films that become such an event, such a part of pop culture, that you feel it necessary, or forced, to see them. Now, as you may have been able to tell from some of the posts here, I don't always succumb to the pressure to see these types of film because, quite frankly, I think quite a bit of popular culture sucks. Now, least you think I'm an old fuddy duddy, rest assured, I am not. Well, maybe just a little bit. Before you worry too much, don't. I am not reviewing one of the Twilight films so you can sleep peacefully knowing that the world is not about to end.
Avatar, the behemoth that in just over a month has earned almost $1.7 BILLION, is the latest in the line of blockbusters from the mind of director James Cameron. To say this film is going to be a permanent link in pop culture is an understatement. To take part fully in the experience I saw the film on an IMAX screen in 3-D, which is probably the best bang for your buck here. Now, I've already seen a couple of films in this format before, both a 20 minute portion of the ghastly Superman remake and the relatively good Beowulf. Neither are in the same category technically with this film.
Without question it is a technical piece of work that stands on a plateau unto itself. However, that's sort of where it ends. We've seen this story before and there really are no original ideas that force their way to the center of the film. As I was watching it, especially in the first hour or so as we are introduced to the world that is Pandora, all I could think is it seemed like a mash-up of Heavy Metal magazine issues, 70s sci-fi books I read in Jr High, hippie commune fireside chats and some acid.
It's hard to review the film like this on its merits because whether you like it or not is basically irrelevant. It's like pop music and reality TV, millions love it so it must be good. The story is straight-line simple. The subtext is spoon fed so that even the most oblivious, brain dead cube farmer will comprehend it. Honestly, the story is so simple I'm not even going to go over the basics because they have already been talked about to death. If you want to save yourself the $15 (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little) I spent, this tool obviously drank the kool-aid and wrote out a synopsis of the whole friggin film.
I can't say I hate the film, the visuals are such an immense leap forward I could only compare them to feats by Bob Beamon or Usain Bolt. But it is filled with the most simplistic of cliches, so much so it make me wonder how much he's advanced as a story teller since his directorial debut, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. In a clever artifice, the whole film is based on a MacGuffin (Unobtainium!). Predictably, it abandons any storyline it has in the third act in favor of an all-out action payoff. Cameron is no fool, he knows all the truisms of Hollywood, including the notion that most film-goers only remember 2 things: if they liked the beginning and if they liked the end. Then again, his other "masterpiece", Titanic, wasn't exactly Chinatown.
But there is something I would like to talk about, the film's primary message. This film is so Green, (How green is it?) I'm surprised the alien race is blue (ba dum bum ching!). It takes going native to a whole new level and espouses beliefs held in native societies (and liberal agendas!) since the dawn of mankind. Before I even thought about seeing this film I was already being bombarded with its backlash. The Vatican was warning us against turning nature into a new divinity. China pulled it from screens, concerned that it was drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue of forced evictions, in addition to other things.
Avatar has made about 70% of it's gross in foreign countries. Is it really just 3-D technology and sappy story elements that are bringing people to see this film over and over again? Or could it be that this anti-industrialism, pro-environment message is actually of some importance around the world; especially in countries where budding industry and growing populations are creating environmental issues of frightening proportions? It has been said that "History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives."
Let's put aside all of the scientific, religious and political arguments for a moment. If you think that our world, this planet Earth, is not one gigantic ecosystem that feeds of off itself in an ever replenishing miracle of life, I suggest you wander outside and take a look up into the sky. You'll notice that there is no vegetation on the moon, the other planets or the Sun. Yet, somehow they still exist. This is it. This is all we get. Once we work our way through this world we have no other options. If we strip this planet bare of every last drop of fresh water, every tree that reaches towards the heavens and every blade of grass beneath our feet, the planet will still exist, just as surely as we won't. Personally, I'd like to think this message is why Avatar is becoming the new box office king. But I'd settle if it just ends up being a subliminal thought in the back of our collective pop culture mind.
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