Let me start off by saying Avatar is not a bad movie. However Avatar is not a great movie, nor is it even close to the masterpiece some people are hailing it as. Was it entertaining? Sure. Does it deserve to be touted as the next big leap in cinema? Absolutely not. In fact if this is the future of movie making, then I am sure as hell worried. And you’d better be too.
What’s the big deal about this movie? Well the claim is that James Cameron used a new type of technology for motion capture that will revolutionize the way we see cinema. That’s great in theory, but I don’t think he’s done that. Or at least not yet. Reviewers and fans are celebrating Cameron for creating photorealistic characters and environments – all on a computer! Personally, I think he’s created the most realistic CG we’ve seen to date, but in the end it’s still CG. There are times in the movie when you forget this fact, however all it takes is small reminder that it is CG to remove you from the movie. For me the second I can tell something is CG I’m immediately taken out of the movie, because I’m noticing that something is fake, or flawed, and it removes you from being immersed in the film. I think the re-released Star Wars trilogy is most guilty for this, flagrantly adding CG special effects and characters that do nothing to advance the story. They’re just flashy additions that don’t really enhance the movie. You’re really drawn out of the movie with the CG effects are especially bad or particularly noticeable. Need proof? Well just look at the puppet Yoda vs. CG Yoda. Maybe it was the hand up his ass, but he had way more life inside him than the CG frog ever could.
I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I felt let down by Avatar. In its defense, this movie had unimaginable hype to live up to, but still they made some bold-ass claims. My biggest problem with the movie is that “it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” I don’t buy it, in fact the entire movie felt all too familiar. I kept waiting for that where I’d be absolutely blown away, but it never came. I look at it this way, it’s like someone promises you a delicious meal by saying it’s like won’t be like anything you’ve ever tasted before, an entirely new flavor. Then they give you the fanciest, gourmet pizza you’ve ever seen, but when you try it, it still tastes like pizza. Now I love pizza, but I was promised an entirely new flavor, but instead got something good yet familiar.
I’m worried that cinema will become entirely too obsessed with the glitz and sparkle of this new promised CG and forget in the end, it’s all about the story. The absolute weakest part of this movie is the plot. I think I never felt blown away or surprised by what I was watching because it’s entirely predictable and nothing unexpected happens. The story isn’t bad, it’s just not very original, especially when expecting something you haven’t seen before. For a movie that mostly takes place inside a giant tree, it seems to be forgetting its cinematic roots. Story first.
