Eat your popcorn and stop thinking!

Rating: 2/10 (27 December 2009)

This is another of those films that separate the 'entertainment' seekers from the movie fans.
Although I must admit to having enjoyed Avatar, in places, the simple, inescapable truth is that are too many ridiculous elements at play in the film for it to be taken seriously. It may take you an hour, a day, a week or even a month to realise this, but hopefully you'll come to this conclusion at some point.
Here are the facts: Americans (why is it always Americans? There are still humans on Earth from other countries aren't there?) invade alien world with an uninspiring name (Pandora - where have we heard that name before?) which is populated by creatures who, remarkably, have evolved to look almost completely humanoid. What a lack of imagination! Even the wildlife are simple alterations on what we have on Earth, or from popular mythology.
All the characters are one dimensional, and fall neatly into 'goodies' and 'badies' camps immediately. There are no shades of grey in this world - that would be too complicated for the popcorn-munchers.
The plot is predictable, which is such a crime to the progression of movies, but is even more so here, considering the way this movie was being touted. The next step in cinema? You mean, computer game graphics, and no story? I think we've already had that, James.
Yes, it is rousing, at times, and there are occasionally good ideas, such as the physical connection between native and animals, but they are swamped in 'by the numbers' colouring-in sets and scenes that should only appeal to kids and those who seek only bright lights and loud noises.
The story itself is just a riffing on the native Americans' treatment at the hands of the invading white men, which has been mirrored more effectively elsewhere. It's also depressing to see the natives win on Pandora, simply to remind ourselves that this is just a movie, and that it was the invaders who won back in the world of reality.
One of the sourest points for me, though, is the fact that the movie was driven by vast sums of money and a hyped marketing strategy - surely two elements that do not sit well with the morality of the tale, or the native people out to stop a huge, greedy corporate organisation.
There's more to be said, but I've got a feeling it's been well documented now.
I, too, fell for the hype, so on that front the movie is a huge success.