15 January 2010

Avatar

I finally saw it today.

Yes, it's Dances with Wolves set on another planet, with the exception that the hero stays afterwards.

Yes, it's the "evil greedy corporation" and their paid mercenaries against the indigenous peoples.

I didn't really find it overly preachy, it's just put out there as a statement of fact. They have what we want, we have nothing they want to trade for it, so now we fight for it. We try to take it away from them, they try to keep it.

I would have liked to see a bit more development into why this "unobtanium" is such a valued mineral, that might have explained why the humans were so dead set on "obtanium-ing" it. I would also have liked to see an explanation of why we couldn't have mined the ore without destroying their planet's surface, with the technology displayed in the film I'm sure that there could have been a way. It can be done with coal and oil (although strip mining for coal is more efficient, which is why it's done that way) so I see no reason why it couldn't have been done with this as well. It would have made for a rather short story, though.

Other than that, it was a classic "you have what I want, we can trade or fight" and since we have nothing to trade that you want, Fight's On! If it had been a human world vs space aliens there probably wouldn't have been as much furor over it. After all, who felt sorry for the aliens in "Independence Day" when they got blown up? Same story, different point of view is all.

The story was fast moving, the visuals were stunning, all in all it was an enjoyable experience.

2 comments:

dmurray said...

"Don't play with that, you'll go blind," said Ripley to Jake. Does someone have a copyright or a patent on the Frilly Organ of Universal Interface in Avatar?

Command your flying dinosaur, command your six legged steed, interface with the indigenous (SP?) female and anger the elders, command the bad ass flying dinosaur and gain Kwaisatz Haderak status (I apologize, Frank Herbert), inform the divine Uber Mom about human plans, did I leave anything out? Oh, I remember, its braided length is strong enough to support the whole weight of its bearer.

I made up the moniker, please, everyone, don't talk to your doctor about getting a prescription for one.

Larry said...

You forgot "Interface with the all knowing Earth Mother." Not to mention it tucks unobtrusively out of the way when not in use.
I'm sure you could talk to James Cameron about the whole copyright thing.
Thanks for dropping by dmurray!