OneMind

My wife and I went yesterday afternoon to see “Avatar” in 3D. The 3D was astonishingly good: well-executed, not overdone, often surprising. The feel of being in the story was compelling. (Plot spoilers follow.)

Unfortunately, neither the story nor the characters were. Compelling, that is. The humanoid characters (the Na’vi) would have been more engaging if they had been less human. Director James Cameron did some great modifications (blue color, reshaped nose, tail, and seven-foot height) but it was pretty easy to slip into a human vs. human, us vs. them kind of mindset because the characters were insufficiently alien. The non-Na’vi life forms were often quite well done but none of them was imbued with any particularly intriguing or endearing characteristics that made them objects of interest, support or sympathy.

But compared to the storyline, the characters are masterpieces. A barely disguised retelling of “Dances With Wolves” with more spectacular violence, Avatar fails to satisfy either of the two audiences Cameron appears to have had in mind. Those who, like me, enjoy positive, uplifting films with spiritual and moral lessons and content (a la Spiritual Cinema Circle), the first 60% or so of the movie came close a few times to excellence and insight. There are, in fact, two or three insightful events or comments in this first part of the film, but they are few, far between, and a bit didactic in their expression. The film then devolves into the American-Indian Wars on an alien planet with the outcome reversed.

It is interesting that both political extremes have expressed anger or disappointment with the movie. The Right thinks it’s awful to portray Americans as warlike, blood-thirsty and planet-raping. Even though that’s clearly a major dimension of the reality. The Left thinks Cameron could have left out the entire military angle and the combat, which is way too idealistic for today’s movie-going American audience. Having blown through $300 million in production cost and half that in marketing expenses, Cameron and the studio were obviously not going to produce a feel-good movie and hope against hope to recover their investment.

All in all, this move is a 6 on a scale of 10, increased to 7.5 because of the great 3D effects.

Posted via email from danshafer’s posterous