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James Cameron is one of my favorite directors. Okay, in his early years he did direct the scream “classic” (sarcasm intended) Piranha 2: The Flying Killers and more lately produced an awful documentary The Tomb of Jesus which supposed that the actual tomb of Jesus of Nazareth had been found. But all directors have their moments. Who can forget the brilliant movies Mr Cameron has directed… The Abyss, T2 Judgment Day, Aliens, True Lies and to his credit even Titanic wasn’t that bad.
Avatar fits squarely into one of Mr Cameron’s better movies. Financially the movie was a major success making almost more than 1 billion dollars more than Titanic, making it the biggest box office success ever! I find this a little strange as the movie is not that great, but as with Titanic Mr Cameron penned into the screenplay all the key components to more or less guarantee Avatar’s success – action, adventure, likable characters, good pacing throughout, amazing F/X, a love story, and self sacrifice in the face of impending doom.
As a movie Avatar works well. It held my attention for all of it’s 160 minute running time which is a rare feet these days… I find myself getting bored with many a movie lately. The acting, the directing, and the screenplay are all what we’ve come to expect from Mr Cameron. But what stands out in this movie is the F/X and there are a lot of them. In fact Avatar is basically a showcase for the latest and greatest F/X on the block.
For those of you, like me, who missed Avatar in the theater the storyline is quite simple and without ruining it too much for you all I will say it that it’s basically Pocahontas in space with touches of the Richard Harris classic A Man Called Horse. Add in a twist of action in the style of Aliens and the video game Halo and voila you have an idea of what Avatar is like. Oh and there’s plenty of weird and wonderful creatures to be seen including the stars of the show the Na’vi (the good guys) who can only be described as giant smurfs crossed with cats.
Some religious folk have criticized this movie as being full of shamanic mother earth type false religion. To be honest, yes there are some scenes which depict the Na’vi praying to a tree and to their deities, and the idea that all things are connected in a cycle of life is referred to a few times. Personally, I found this not to be a distraction… instead I marveled at the amazing F/X. Put it this way, I don’t think anyone is going to damage or lose their faith by watching this movie.
I enjoyed this movie and would wholeheartedly recommend it for older audiences. There is a lot of violence throughout and as such I would not recommend Avatar for young one’s, but anyone older than fourteen should be okay. There’s talk that Avatar 2 is in the works and I look forward to that… although it’s not slated for release until 2014.
Bottom line: Great movie that feels a little rushed in places. Amazing F/X dominate the movie from beginning to end and although the Na’vi are not quite as realistic as actual actors I suspect that by the time Avatar 2 is made the Na’vi with look as lifelike as you and I.
Keeping it Hardcore,
Chris
We really enjoyed the show too! We were fortunate enough to have watched it in 3D! Absolutely amazing!
As for the religious elements, I actually thought it made a great case for our more personal,loving God as the Na'vi believed that their god created them and was not concerned with the individual's well-being but rather only the balance of the universe. When one of them found the main character praying to their god about helping them in their fight, he was gently chastised and told that he would not be heard. One of my most favourite parts was when the animals came to help them and the princess shouted that their god had heard them as if being cared for and known personally was completely foreign to her. I could easily use that in conversation with people who don't know our amazing God!!!
Again, have to agree with you, a great movie. Russ has already bought it so if you want to see it again, we'd love to have you over to watch it with us!!
Russ & Julie Rempel
Great insight. I love it when movies talk to people in this way – that they can then go and share their insight from a faith perspective with others. Thanks for sharing. PS: It will be a while before I trek through this 160 min's again… not that it was bad, but long!