Inhabitants of Earth are engaged in the colonization of planet Pandora which is inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Lush, computer generated video game style movie is a technically dazzling light show, particularly in its rendering of the foreign world. Indeed there is a palpable sense of wonder as paraplegic Jake is able to walk and experience the planet‘s vegetation and wildlife for the first time. Unfortunately the story is simplistic in the extreme. The entire narrative feels like an apology for European imperialism, and specifically for the plight of the Native American. It’s a shame director James Cameron’s long awaited follow-up to Titanic didn’t employ a more original story, because the film is a stunning breakthrough of visual technology.
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Simple story, it was. However, I enjoyed every minute of it. There was so much creativity throughout the movie, I was impressed. I give it 4 Stars.
I too liked this one a bit more than you did though I find we mostly agree. The story being simple wasn’t a distraction for me and while the theme has been explored in other films I thought it had a couple of twists that gave the story some nobility. In the end I walked away believing at least for a moment that Pandora exits and satisfied with our afternoon at the movies. 4 stars.
I’m clearly in the minority on this film. While I gave it a lukewarm recommendation, it is poised to become one of the biggest hits of the year. The critics have been fairly positive too.
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It is true that the plot was not inventive (it’s the cowboy or soldier in many stories who first learns to appreciate and then tries to protect the natives)…but how many NEW plots are there in the world? The question is always how well, how convincingly and how freshly the story is told. For me, it definitely worked.
But I readily admit that the technology and the stunning visuals were a large part of why it worked!! I made the effort to see it at an IMAX theater, just to be sure that I got the maximum visual impact.
I agree with Doryl Jensen’s comment above. You can tell a story with similar themes in a fresh way and it can still be good, even if it’s not totally original. Cameron’s vision here is just mesmerizing. I went to see this on the IMAX 3D multiple times and would watch it again if it were to revisit theaters. Cameron puts on display the way 3D was intended to be and if 3D was used properly as in this film and sparingly then I think 3D would be much more respected by the masses. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel that is set to take place underwater. I can’t wait to see what Cameron does with it. 🙂