Avatar

Avatar is, aside from the incredible visuals and technology, nothing new plot-wise. It is essentially 'Ferngully' meets 'Dances with Wolves' meets 'Nausicaa,' 'Pocahontas,' and 'Gorillas in the Mist.' Beautiful, yes, and awesome, especially in IMAX 3D, all those glowing lights in your face and the depth of the distance below the trees and floating mountains, glorious. But entirely predictable, absolutely. I knew what would happen hours before it happened, not that I wasn't pleased to see I was right, or that I wasn't happy with what happened, but no surprises. This movie loves foreshadowing, like whoah.


And this isn't to say I didn't love it, obviously, I've seen it more than once already, and could see it again. But that's because I like where it takes me, and the aesthetic pleasure and feelings I derive from watching it. Also, I love nature kicking ass. My favorite LotR was the second for the longest time because the Ents kick so much ass (nature, yay!).


From Huffington Post: 'Avatar' = 'Pocahontas' in Space




Anyway. It's a damn good movie, and the anti-war (Giovanni Ribisi and the Colonel were deliciously diabolical) pro-nature (I want to 'plug-in' to nature and ride a giant bird!) themes are very much appreciated, but aside from the technology it ain't nothing new. But what movies nowadays don't pay homage to some plot of the past? Whether it's Jane Austen, Homer, Shakespeare, or apparently Disney, it's how it's used that matters. The bit of originality I will give it is the idea of the avatar itself, and being a big blue being that looks like a combination of a deer, an elf, and a monkey. I couldn't help but think of "little green men" when looking at the humans, that we are them, smaller than the indigenous peoples, with our scary futuristic technology, using their bodies to communicate, and just so darn cute and small.