Writing is more important than technology

Rating: 6/10 (28 December 2009)

There are two features of Avatar that left an impression, the graphics and plot. The run up to the movie concentrated on the technical breakthroughs which were needed to make the film - unfortunately I did not see it in 3D so can't comment on that component. However while the melding of actors and computer generated images was interesting, I didn't find it more astonishing than the special effects technology of prior films. I happened to see parts of the 1956 Moby Dick the following day, for example, which was instructive - the technology available then was relatively primitive but was very convincing, as was King Kong, made still earlier, because the movies were so well made and written; bells and whistles alone are not sufficient to make a great movie. Which leads me to the next issue, the plot. It was the basic premise of evil corporation (or nation) vs the innocent indigenous population. While that certainly has historical and present day validity, the writing was so broad and the plot points so obvious that one lost interest, knowing exactly where this was heading and how things would turn out. I was ultimately left with the feeling that I had seen a political cartoon rather than an interesting movie.