Movie Review: Avatar was a Bad Movie
I rarely do movie reviews, but when I stand in such strong opposition to the general analysis, I feel I must speak out.
Avatar was a very weak movie. The special effects and graphics were cool, but outside of the 3-D, I did not think it was anything spectacular visually. There have been hundreds of high budget sci-fi and fantasy movies in the last few years with incredible computer graphics; I did not think it really stood out above the rest of those.
The story was awful. I could have told you the entire rest of the story 5 minutes into the movie. So, the main character is going to be implanted as a spy into a world of indigenous people that respect their planet? Wow, I wonder if he won’t become entranched in their ways, fall in love with one of them, effectively become one of them, and take their side in the battles that were sure to come. So, it proceded to go on for 2 hours and 35 minutes more of exactly what was expected storyline-wise.
The rest of the story was weak as well. What started off as an interesting science experiment turned into a cheap video game shoot-em up plot. I was not emotionally moved the entire movie nor was I challenged mentally to handle any sneaky plot twists. And, man were those some unoriginal sci-fi names (“unobtainium”, “pandora”, and “avatar”?!). Looking at the four other billion dollar movies in history (Titanic, LOTR: Return of the King, Dark Knight, PotC) all of them (except maybe “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”) had better story lines than this movie.
The acting was poor enough to make Sigourney Weaver’s performance seem quite good, which is sad. But we cannot fault the actors too much. With so many of the cheesy one-liners in that script there was not much room to escape.
Back to the 3-D. I think the concept is quite cool and it does add an interesting twist to action movies. I last saw a 3D movie back in the late 80’s. Unfortunately, I do not think the 3-D technology improvement in twenty years has been anything monumental. I was expecting more and while it was a fun visual experience, I do not think it was anything extraordinary.
All in all, I think the hype is a bit much and people are too easily swayed by the ability (with much expense) to put this action and graphics into 3-D. If we continue to see more and more 3-D movies, people will look back on this and laugh. How are we so easily swayed by a 25 year old technology trick into thinking a horrible script and acting is an amazing film?
Related posts:
- Sci-Fi Perfect Storm So, a bit off topic, but I would like...
- Book Review: The Tipping Point Title: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make...
- Calling Pyongyang’s Bluff Here’s how it has worked in the past. North...
I liked it
Saw it last night and thought it was brilliant.
I walked out of the movie and somebody asked me if I liked it and I told them I wasn’t sure. To be honest with you, I’m still not sure what I thought of the movie. I watched it in Real-3D.
I absolutely loved it so much I watched it twice so far and wouldn’t mind going a third time honestly. As far as the graphics and animation, it will lead the way for future movies for many years to come. They weren’t actors doing sound bites and animators going off for a couple years using computers to make the movie. It was all actually acted out. They really rode the dragons creatures with a manual device they had to learn to balance on with a computer suit on. I’m not sure how you can make animation look much more real than using actual human movements on as many points and objects as possible. He actually wrote the script 13 years ago and the technology to do what he wanted just want there so 5 years ago he got it out and started trying to make it work. It blows me away personally. I’ll give you the predictable story line somewhat but what else would you really want to see? Do you want to see a new weapon that makes their heads turn into big helium pumpkins and they float into outer space until their body implodes or what? What is so wrong with a good story – a little bit of love, a little bit of action, a little bit of motive change … and the wheel goes round and round.
I ask you to go to youtube and type in “The Making of Avatar by James Cameron” or just “avatar” and you will find tons of stuff about how they made it and what the story is all about and such.
later,
Jonathan
“I’m not sure how you can make animation look much more real than using actual human movements on as many points and objects as possible.”
Real dragons.
win!!!
I also thought that the movie did not live up to the hype. The message is commendable, however, the plot was painfully predictable. Special effects aside, I felt it was an average movie. As new age as the movie seems, we have seen this story before.
Funny that you say we’ve seen this story before. Have a look at this rewrite of Pocahontas:
http://failblog.org/2010/01/10/avatar-plot-fail/
Do you remember a certain children’s movie called Thumbalina it’s almost the exact movie. I honestly can’t see why a person with at least a little brains can’t see through this movie. The predictable script, acting, and the tentacle things in their tails makes this movie with me being generous a C-
i couldn’t agree with you more Conor.
you have put it into words so well the way i feel about this
typical shit film.
Agreed. The movie was predictable and uncreative; one big cinematic cliche. The animated parts looked just that: animated. There was too much of everything also. the dialogue dragged the movie out too much, and I caught myself looking at the time frequently. I had no issues with the politics, but I didn’t have any interest in it either. The movie was all hype, and I didn’t buy any of it. Frankly, the hype is the only reason people are liking it. Of course, that’s my opinion. And i’m sticking to it.
The 3D was good, but 3D does not automatically make a movie awesome. Titanic and Return of the King were lightyears ahead of this movie. Bad story line, bad acting…tsk tsk. Doesn’t work. I think the only reason it grossed so high was because people EXPECTED it to be mind-blowing so they went and bought the tickets…and 3D is relatively more expensive than normal 2D.
“How are we so easily swayed by a 25 year old technology trick into thinking a horrible script and acting is an amazing film?”
Because the average movie-goer sees amazing ENTERTAINMENT as a whole, not an amazing FILM based on the “rules” you critics think up.
Typical fan boys going against the grain… Using Apple MACs are we?
No Macs, just iPhones.
Maybe that’s because your brains don’t have a high enough IQ to critisize anything. And I’m not a freaking boy. I suppose then that no book, peice of art, or meal should ever be judged? Am I expected to eat crap because I should be grateful that I am eating? Of course I’m grateful, but that does not mean I can’t want better.
Simple as that.
“Because the average movie-goer sees amazing ENTERTAINMENT as a whole, not an amazing FILM based on the “rules” you critics think up.”
Please note a fine line between seeing something as ‘entertaining as a whole’ and completely ignoring a film’s flaws because there where other elements you liked-specifically, denying any issue with acting or writing because the Avatar entertained you with its visuals.
Good visuals do not make Avatar “entertaining as a whole”. Especially for those who need a little more good stimulus -mental or otherwise- than that to be entertained -and there is nothing wrong with that.
It’s like saying thinking is bad.
I guess you critics also hated Titanic? Funny how the public get it so wrong so often isn’t it.
Personally I loved Avatar and was able to ignore the ‘cliches’.
I go to the movies to lose myself and imagine. You guys should try it sometime, you just might enjoy it.
Yup, I hated Titanic. Really, it ought to have been called “Generic Sinking Boat: Leonardo DiCaprio Gets the Girl, and Dies Heroic Death.”
I would love to know how you managed to ignore the cliches, and still have any film left to see? Personally, I go to the movies to enjoy a thought-provoking story, and immerse myself in a complex plot. Avatar failed in both respects. It was pathetic.
Yeah, because you can’t think and imagine at the same time, can you? Did it ever strike any of you ~imaginative~ people that there is nothing wrong with having enough brain cells to need something more than a movie telling you to be amazed, saddened to thrilled in order to feel that way? Because that’s the thing….you don’t imagine with Avatar. Or most movies, actually. You imagine with a book, because your interpret the words and create your own mental imagery…Avatar gives you the imagery, it tells you who to root for and what is right and what is wrong. The most you do as far as imagining goes is some sort of mental copy-pasting of yourself into the character’s shoes. You do none of the creative processing yourself.
Which is why some like this movie. No mental stressors whatsoever. Not so bad in an of itself, but it doesn’t make it a good movie objectively, only subjectively. Hence why critics take issue with Avatar being considered an objectively good film (winning best picture) and not as much with its popularity -though if all fans are as closed minded as you, and its appearing to be more and more the case, then I can see why said popularity would be disheartening for the future of film and art.
Lots of critics have movies that they love that they good and well know are complete crap….and guess what, they’ll admit it!
Great special effects.
Weak story, offensive to aboriginal people.
Obama would love it.
CGI was good, nothing mind-blowing. The storyline was just stock standard, straight out of the factory…lame
Because of all of the interest, I created a poll on the GreenTaxi Facebook page… What was your favorite holiday movie?
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GreenTaxicom/46294121380?v=app_138079047824
It was Dances With Seven Foot Smurfs.
I would have left 1/2 way but I was fumigating the house and had nowhere else to go. it was bad
No one has mentioned ‘Battle for Tera’ which came out a year or so before Avatar. Same movie exactly. 3D space adventure. Marine falls in love with alien and then fights back against his own kind to protect the aliens. I thought ‘oh, cool, for once humans are the invading aliens…’ and that was about it. Bottom line – That movie sucked too but at least was only 1.5 hours long. Animation was great in Avatar, so what. I hate you all.
Look its not a bad movie… its enjoyable at times (the first half hours is very interesting)… and can be boring and typical at other times! Put it this way I enjoyed parts of it and completely hated LOR (Lord of the Rings)
But the fact that it is typical computer technology (star wars prequels and many other movies from the past decade) all out clash of the worlds final battle movie and the movie solely focuses on the plastic character like syndrome and animals (I did like the blue people but eventually got bored of them) is pretty lame but the worst part is it is just a typical story done a thousand times over with the same visual effects and technology. The movie now is the biggest money making move off all time ahead of Titanic!
Did anyone notice typical James Cameron style?? I.e. the radar/sonar used in “Aliens” an “The Abyss” & “Total Recall” type theme! And what’s with the machine guns, shouldn’t there be lazar like weapons this far into the future!
I mean did the movie world just come out of a coma – is this all new too cinema goers (patrons)
I like JC as a director he is great at what he does but avatar was just a poor excuse of an idea he had 15 years ago and finally decided to make it now. If it wasn’t for the Blue People (the Avatar) the movie would be a flop! But wow avatar is the highest grossing movie, what the? Must be a Gen Y thing! That’s what I hate about Avatar it was marketed and promoted well with an interesting trailor plus it has been a while since JC made a movie but no one noticed the big let down and where just sucked in by the Big Blue Characters! (there cute but half hour is all I need)
I should post this blog on some “I think avatar is over rated movie site” !!!
Avatar still is better than LOR!!!! Hahaha
“If it wasn’t for the Blue People (the Avatar) the movie would have been a flop!”
So you are saying if it wasn’t for the main part of the movie than it would have flopped? OF COURSE IT WOULD HAVE. Thats like saying if the boat wasn’t in Titanic the movie would have sucked. Or if the Republic wasn’t in Star Wars it would have been a failure. Common logic has been lost on many people I believe.
“Thats like saying if the boat wasn’t in Titanic the movie would have sucked. Or if the Republic wasn’t in Star Wars it would have been a failure.”
First and foremost the latest installments of Star Wars where the Prequels, a story has already been established with the original Star Wars therefore this laid a benchmark to allow Star Wars Fans and non Fans the opportunity to see the foundation of the Story – How it all Began!
Avatar is different! It initially was promoted as a bold new concept in movie making and story telling but failed to live up to that expectation, even though the movie was a massive hit! The movie started off extremely well but failed to overall deliver the goods. The final fight was very typical! Yes there where parts in between where the native people could connect with the dragon type creature was great and to see the humans enter Pandora and leave their world behind was fascinating but this has been done before with countless of other movies.
You in adversely agreed with my quote “if it wasnt for the Blue people the movie would have been a flop” Exactly! I have become anti this movie because of the success it has had at the box office! You cannot compare this movie to Titanic, period! Titanic was bold and fresh even though it was based on a Ship in the early 1900s in which we have heard about time and time again, the fact that Titanic had a strong script between Leonardo and Kate and the story and lives of others surrounding these two characters combined with the amazing construction of the ship and the visual computer imagery and effects (this style of computer effects where at their humble beginnings in the mid 90s)contributed significantly to Titanic’s success – Your quote “if the boat wasn’t in Titanic the movie would have sucked” – Really? Are you Sure?? Or is it that there wasnt enough computer made up characters in the movie of which we have been constantly bombarded with over the last decade that has allowed you to fail to see the beauty of the movie!
You where sucked in by the Avatar and failed to see the deep underlining issues. I on the other hand liked the Avatar Character for the first half hour but noticed the typical syndrome with the movie – and was not sucked in by the colors, playdoh plastic like creatures for the full 2 hours. However I did enjoy the anti Bush administration political jargon quotes.
If it wasnt for having common Logic, as you state that people have lost, that I wouldn’t be asking the question “why is this movie the highest grossing film of all time”? It is because I can see that this is what people want – more computer animated movies. Its just a shame that the highest grossing movies are seen to be as “great flicks” hahaahah. Some are and some aren’t – Avatar surely isnt a great flick regardless of the “Blue People”. Its purely just a fad!
so…… you’re admitting that the focal point of this movie was tall blue people? I don’t even have anything to say to that.
You are a one sentance MORAN. Did your baby rattle fall out of your mouthy when you where watchy Avatarie…!
This review hits the nail on the head 100%! To have this movie nominated for best picture just reaffirms that Hollywood knows as much about great movies as they do about politics.
Ha, classic analogy!
HAHAHHAHAA The acting was poor enough to make Sigourney Weaver’s performance seem quite good, which is sad.
HHAHAHAH I GOOGLED WHO YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT AND LOL!!!!!LMAO!!! HAHAHAHA im dying in laughters LoLLL!!!! = P
A bad movie. Horrible writing from the individual lines to the whole story. I think they got in every single cliche possible. I didn’t walk out only because I never walk out of movies since my father dragged us out of Rumble Fish when I was a kid. The worst part of the movie is that while it seems to be promoting environmental awareness, the hyper sensory stimulation and overload makes the real world, and real nature, seem boring. In that case it probably does more harm to environmental awareness than good. And then what can you say about all the money, electricity, and resources wasted on making it that could have gone to actually doing some good.
This predictable plot line you so readily assault is called an archetype. The movie was great: Fantastically entertaining and visually stunning. An absolute RIDE.
You’re just being cantankerous.
I bet you watched this in 3D.
Please note that it is highly likely that half of the ticket sales where related to 3D sales. And highly likely that half of the people who watched Avatar where only curious, intrigued and entertained by the 3D aspect. And probably why the movie was also released in 3D!
But when you watch the movie in a normal cinema it is quite plainly animated and very plastic… it makes you appreciate the beauty of real life! I was craving a burger after the movie hahaha! It had a good concept acknowledging the environment and indigenous populations, referring to the after life and the presence of a soul, and categorized scientist into the atheist and spiritual awareness categories! But to make as much money as it did does not reflect on the movies ability to stand on its own merit but purely and merely based on publicity, word of mouth, hype and the over sanitized computer created characters and effects! A lousy ending and now the rumours of a trilogy to justify a typical ending! The concept of entering a world in another body has been done many times before such as the Matrix to name one! The movie began to drag on half way through and lost its theme and appeal! The characters no longer intrigued me and I did not care. I guess I got bored with the Star Wars type clash at the end. However it was still enjoyable but not justifiable, that’s for sure! A fluke, a stroke of luck for Cameron!
I agree with Conor, this was simply put a bad movie. I was shocked at how bad the plot was, even though I had heard before hand not to go see the movie for the plot. How can someone spend so much money on a movie, and not even have an interesting plot ? Typical black and white evil vs good Hollywood crap. No nuances, and so many bad lines I started lauging when it wasn’t even supposed to be funny.
The visuals were ok, but way too much in your face to enjoy. Overall, I would give this movie a 1 star on 10, maybe for the technical effort. Music was as predictable as a McDonalds meal. So much more to rant about, but I’ve got better things to do…
I hope you realize you sound like an asshole saying the music was predictable…
I hope you realize you sound like an asshole for stating an opinion as fact an not backing it up. :>
Classic mashup video of Avatar and Pocahontas. Yeah…real original, Mr. Cameron.
CFV 426 – Avatar/Pocahontas Mashup FINAL VERSION from Randy Szuch on Vimeo.
So the movie was predictable, so what? That doesn’t take away from its greatness at all. You critics have your heads jammed so far up your asses you don’t know which way is down. This movie wasn’t really meant to be a thought-provoking dramatic masterpiece, it was meant to be a fun sci-fi adventure with cool effects. Appreciate it for what its worth; it was entertaining, the effects were unbelievable, and honestly the acting and plot wasn’t that bad; just because it contains cliche’s doesn’t mean its not good. In fact I believe the predictability contributes to its charm because it is so familiar. All in all, this was a solid movie and its really not hard to see why its the highest grossing film of all time, but hey, maybe you would see that if you critics weren’t such pretentious pompous twats.
on that note, I would like to add that Star Wars lost best picture to Annie Hall. Now tell me, who remembers Annie Hall? I rest my case.
[Err popularity =/= creative merit. Maybe if your head wasn't so far up *your* ass you'd know that.]
“If the movie wasn’t so predicabtle, so what?”
Because it’s EASY.
And you know, what if you wrote or created something only to have another person rip it off and make tons of money from it? There is bit of an ethical dilemma when you’re talking about making money via other’s ideas or the effortless use of tired cliches.
And I say tired because I mean tiring. It would stand to reason that after seeing a character, plot or idea so many, many times one would grow understandably bored with it.
The problem here isn’t so much that Avatar entertains or makes money via these cliches and painfully 1D archetypes, it is that saying that it deserves awards for best picture or critical acclaim just because it appeals to the masses who, I’m sorry, aren’t particular difficult to please or evoke, that most critics take issue with.
THAT’s the problem with building a story around and of cliches.
[That, and some critic's bitterness for this movie may, perhaps stem more from idiots like you who bash them for daring to think about a movie beyond its visuals. God forbid god forbid, it's not like the world is suffering a shortage of films and people who just don't want to think about anything and enjoy mindless pleasure. No, those sure are rare.]
bad writing, i mean so the tree was destroyed because of what was underneath yet they never showed more of that, if it was so important then why just leave it.
The Plot … what plot, this was just like all the others talking about some god like structure called the tree, good v. evil, a yoda like character, i mean shit what was original.
It was a movie good enough just to see but nothing made me go WOW
I AGREE. I cant believe that I spent money on that. I thought it was SO boring, it was actually 2 1/2 hours of the SAME THING. Everyone who said it was great obviously doesn’t know what a good movie is. Go watch Taxi Driver or Dances With Wolves (which is basically avatars plot, but actually interesting…) or Gone With the Wind. Learn what makes a good movie. Then watch Avatar again. You will be amazed how much it sucks.