There are numerous posts citing why Avatar is the best film of the decade. Avatar totally deserves the best animation of the decade, but not so with the story line and the screen play. So if you are ready to accept it is not an ideal movie, read on.
My first disappointment with the movie,can't be really helped. It is those 3D goose glasses that I have to wear for 3 hrs straight(without a break). US theatres really need to get into the practice of intermissions, with all these new movies(2012) running for more than 200 minutes.
The movie started interesting enough with the concept of Cryonics and the cute Sam Worthington. But as it wore on, I got this nagging feeling that I have seen all these before. Some of the characters seem so unconnected and superficial. I could relate it to the scene where the doc first introduces Jake to his Avatar in a womb(artificial). It was more like, "hey here is your doughnut", and Jake was seeing his Avatar, a combination of human DNA and Navi DNA. Isn't that something to be surprised off or is it just a everyday thing in 2154?
Speaking of 2154, the earth hasn't changed a bit, except for its explorations on Pandora. The handicapped marine remains handicapped (he takes on an epic adventure , just to get an approval to fix his leg, going in for his late brother). The Earth is still on the verge of economic break down(didn't we just almost see that in 2009?) and the unobtanium,which clearly says it is unobtainable would turn the fate of the earth upside down . The same set of bombers , shooting guns and choppers(with 2 fans instead of one), which have made their appearances in dozens of science fictions, including Aliens, Day after tomorrow and movies that I can't even remember the names of.
As the movie strides on, I can't help but the sing the song, "Jungle jungle patha challa hai" from the Jungle book (mogli -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9RVgTX55vo). It is so much like mogli's story, that all this could have happened in any remote jungle on Earth. What is so much the need to create a new planet and paint all humanly traits on it, albeit with a purple color. Here is a list of things, which my mind just couldn't accept as new. The only good thing , I was seeing the best representation of them ever.
- Seeking of Unobtanium that happens to be hiding just under the tree where the navi live(so much for a 2154 story, how many science fictions are based on mineral mining ) and will magically make the earth richer and out of a major breakdown
- Navi standing 9ft tall(Gulliver's travels with a mix of donkey shrek)
- Flying on the back of a dragon ( Mogli flying with the bear)
- Living on trees with a bed-nest (Mogli again. there is so much of mogli in everything)
- Plants which shrink when touched (Touch me NOT.. 7th grade biology remember??)
- The large predator attacking Jake (takes so much from Jurassic park )
- Soul tree with fake neon light strings(that was so much visible ) - This is such a common practice in Hinduism, worshiping trees and considering them holy are age old practices
- Seeds of Eywa - Have you seen flying cotton seed before?(we call it thaathaa poochi) and we used to catch, close our eyes and blow it in the air to make a wish come true
- The final climax with the two fan helis and bombing squads(Didn't Star trek use 'em in the 80's?)
Despite all the misgivings, I did love certain parts in the film.
me loved...
-- Neytiri's character and facial expressions
-- the purple-mania
-- Cool 3D animations
-- The concept of getting bonded
As my friend put it, I don't see Avatar so much
(meaning I don't love Avatar so much :))
