Avatar – A 400 million-word review…

A friend of mine once told me what he thought of James Cameron. His theory on the man was that he was nothing more than a plagiarizer, swiping ideas from obscure books or movies. According to my friend, Cameron didn’t have a single bone of originality in his body. From Piranha 2 to Titanic (at the time), all of his stories were pretty much stolen or quietly borrowed from other writers, directors or producers and arranged in such a way that he can never be sued. Being a fan of James Cameron’s work, I had some serious doubts about my friend’s theory.

Then I saw Avatar.

In 2009 there was this film entitled The Battle for Terra. In 1965 there was this book entitled Disquiet. Fused together, these already similar stories become Avatar.
The first tells the tale of a human fighter pilot being stranded on a planet humans are trying to conquer for its resources, being taken in by the indigenous population he must wipe out and finally, switching sides to defend his new found friends from extinction by his former people and sacrificing himself to achieve this goal.
The second has a slightly similar story but it is the planet itself that gets all the attention. It is called Pandora and features indigenous creatures and a people that are connected to their home world much like the Na’vi is in Avatar.
Add to this some elements from The Matrix, Jurassic Park, Gamer, Surrogates and even some obvious influences from the Final Fantasy series of video games, and you could have a serious law suit on your hands, but not for Mr. Cameron.
Avatar is written in such a way that no one can really say that Cameron “stole” his story. But when all the pieces come together, no one can say this is original storytelling, or even filmmaking, as it turns out, since this “new” tech is nothing more than an improvement on what made Gollum so important to the craft, not counting this new, underwhelming 3D technology.

A crippled marine is tasked with the mission of finding a way to relocate an indigenous population in order for his employer to mine a precious mineral from the ground where this troublesome people is located. To do this, he must link with an avatar body and control it in order to join the natives and gain their trust.
Avatar is filmed using a specially designed camera system and computer technology that allows animated characters to “act” and look just like real life actors.
Despite my previous comments, I very much enjoyed Avatar and it is actually difficult not to since this is all so darn familiar…

The basic story is always the same. A lone hero must overcome impossible odds against an overwhelming foe in order to preserve freedom, a way of life, and individuality. There are variants, but this has been the Hollywood recipe for over one hundred years of movie making.

Despite all its supposed innovations, Avatar is no different.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, channelling Marcus Wright) is a crippled Marine (with a horrible name). His twin brother died and for genetic reasons he is asked to replace him in the Avatar project, a scientific experiment that allows a human being to link with a genetically constructed body that has the likeness of the Na’vi, the indigenous, blue-skinned people of Pandora. This planet is rich in unobtanium (nice name, James…), a very valuable mineral that is highly sought after by Jake’s employer.
Jake’s mission is to infiltrate the Na’vi and gain their trust in order to convince them to relocate before the mercenaries hired by his boss destroy their home and begin mining the rich deposit of unobtanium underneath the Na’vi’s Hometree.
In true Dances with Wolves fashion, Jake learns the ways of this people and bonds with them, but when the bell tolls, he needs to choose a side. Will he complete his mission and join a psychotic Colonel in the destruction of the “savages”, or will he side with the Na’vi and protect this extremely beautiful world, not to mention his new, super hot blue wife (Zoë Saldana, steals the show!)?

Hmm. Decisions, decisions…

Avatar is riddled with environmentalist undertones, and it’s another story that hammers in our heads that we, the humans, are idiots. We know that corporations will stop at nothing to make (more) money. They will kill and destroy and there is nothing anyone can do about it. This we know because Hollywood tells us all the time, with the countless films that tell the same story.

And that’s ok. The cause is extremely important.

The problem with this and Avatar is that the film is not just about the environment being destroyed by force, by military means. The scientists in the film, led by Doctor Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, excellent), are full of good intentions. They want to teach the Na’vi, they want to transmit the human culture to these people. They also want to study them. But do they want to learn from them? Do they really want to understand them? Wouldn’t education and understanding go a long way toward peace?
The main problem I had with the script is that Cameron doesn’t take the time to explore the ravages that result from the good intentions of a “civilized” world.
How many peoples have been destroyed by our need to teach them better ways to do things like farming or working, selling them the tools to work like us, for us, imposing our ways on African tribes or South American communities throughout our history.

“Never interfere” is The Prime Directive.

Instead, Cameron took the easier way by presenting us explosions and special effects, by placing all the blame on the supposed trigger happy military, by again jamming our brains with one-dimensional, clichéd characters such as Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang, excellent) and Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi, boring, robotic) and a predictable story that doesn’t take any risks, unfortunately.

Actors are well directed overall. I feel Sam Worthington was miscast however. Although he does an ok job, his performance is bland throughout most of the film and he seems to be channelling Marcus Wright from Terminator Salvation, in what is a very similar role anyway. Sigourney Weaver plays her part very well and it is a real treat to watch her abuse and insult Mar… I mean Jake, on screen. Her introduction scene is hilarious.
Two actors really stand out in Avatar though.
Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch is perfectly cast here. His performance is reminiscent of R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket, although not as memorable. He is sadistic; a real threat to our heroes and you can’t help but love to hate him.
Zoë Saldaña as Neytiri is the real shining jewel of this cast. Even behind this mask of blue CGI, she manages to convey the most intense emotions of the film. Her fits of anger and sadness are perfectly accomplished and gut wrenching, and her beauty and sensuality truly shine. I don’t know how much of it is her doing, but Neytiri is one of the best performed movie characters of the decade in my opinion.

Much has been said about the special effects of Avatar. It’s an orgy of CGI, for one thing, and then there is the revolutionary 3D technology.
I saw Avatar in 3D and I found the treatment here underwhelming and inconsistent. There is a shift in perspective but nothing jumps at you from the screen, except in a few scenes, and in most parts of the film when the 3D does show up its like watching a cut scene from a 90s’ video game, when they used to film real life actors in front of a blue screen, with a picture of a miniature set in the background.
It was off.
Pandora does come to life in a few gorgeous instances but really, the experience does not influence the story and it was nothing to write home about, especially since the red/blue 3D glasses still give me a headache.
The sound effects and the music are wonderful. Absolutely no complaints here, it is top of the line quality and relevance, completely deserving the Oscar buzz.

Avatar is more than the sum of its parts. Despite all my previous criticisms, I really enjoyed the film.
It takes its time in introducing all the characters and the planet itself, its dangers and wonders and ways of living.
The Avatar program is well explained and makes sense, and its intricacies are used to good effects, like exploiting its weakness at a critical point in the film…

James Cameron knows how to film action scenes and the moviegoer is well served here. The action pieces are epic, even if their denouement is predictable. The Na’vi is a great addition to scifidom and I look forward to the inevitable sequel, just to see where James Cameron will take his new creation. The possibilities, just like the technologies, are limitless.

To fully enjoy Avatar, one probably needs to leave their brain in the car. And really, if you can’t make a 3D showing, it’s ok. The experience won’t be dramatically different.
It’s a new science fiction franchise with space ships, aliens and laser guns, which is always welcome, and the quality of it rivals that of the new Star Trek and it is definitely better then Star Wars at this point.

The visuals are absolutely terrific and the performances are fair.

Avatar is a good film but I wish all those big Hollywood producers would make special effects a support to a good, original story and character development, instead of a weak, clichéd story being the excuse to promote special effects technology.

I wasn’t bored with Avatar, only slightly disappointed.


7.5/10

Transformers Revenge of The Fallen - A Review

Aside from a few scenes that I found were badly filmed or edited, I really enjoyed Transformers. It was an excellent summer pop corn flick about alien robots fighting each other on Earth. From Michael Bay, no less.

Bay is the Lord of explosions, the Guru of expensive, mindless actioners. With Transformers 2, he re-establishes himself in this position masterfully.

T2 will not win any oscars but it may get a few MTV awards for most badass character or best lips. The film is totally brainless fun with heaps of useless visuals and extremely loud noises.

And it's loads of fun!

Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime, gives another stellar speech as the introduction to the thin story drags on. It is long but his voice is just so friggin' fantastic you just don't care.

The story itself, if anyone cares about such things in a Michael Bay film, is actually meatier this time around.

Energon is the source of power for the Transformers. In order to have ultimate power, Decepticons landed on Earth 17000 years ago and set up a machine to harvest Energon from our sun, destroying it in the process. But valiant autobots fought the Evil ones and contained the machine in a secret location. Or something like that.

Enter Sam Witwicky(LeBoeuf) who finds himself the bearer of the clues that will lead the Transformers in our current time period to the secret location. Only Sam is not interested in helping his metal buddies anymore. He just wants to be normal and do Megan Fox all day long. Who can blame him?

The film is a race to find the ancient machine and culminates in a climactic battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of both mankind and robot kind alike, as well as that of the Earth itself.

I honestly think there are more explosions and destruction in T2 than in all Bay films combined.

And as I man who grew up watching Transformers, it was awesome!

There are however a few cons to all this fun.

First off, Megan Fox.

Yes, she is hot. She is also useless. Most of her shots are close-ups of her lips which she obviously pouts on command. She acts like she's always walking on a runway, alone, acting overly sexy.

It's too much of a good thing and since she has nothing else to do in this film, I feel she could've been left on the cutting room floor, probably on a think red cushion eating strawberries or something.

Another disappointment is Mikaela's(Fox) competition for Sam's heart in the beginning of the film. I won't spoil it but it was really stupid, not to mention a total ripoff of another franchise of robotic proportions...

The two Autobots, Skids and Mudflaps, were very annoying. Why the street/black talk? Totally useless and abusive of an overused stereotype.

Something big happens about 2/3 into the movie, after which the pacing slows down considerably. Many critics are taking points out for this but I think it was important to do it the way they did.
In such an intense action film, a slowdown at this particular moment allowed for some emotional moments. To take it all in, to realize what had just happened.

It is big.

But since it's a Bay film, the predictability of the script kicks in as the film picks up in pace, as the puzzle's pieces come together, as the movie makes its way to the final scenes.

T2 is longer, louder with better editing and overall better performances. We also have much more robot on robot action and although many new Transformers show up, it doesn't suffer from overcrowding like such films as Batman & Robin or X-Men The Last Stand by focusing on mostly Optimus, the new villain and Sam.

Star Trek was better in every way but Transformers Revenge of The fallen is an excellent summer film. Hopefully #3 is coming and will be just as good.

7/10

Entertainment News of the week

Not much news for this second week but one big item that I will limit myself to as I think it deserves all the attention.

Item 1: Michael Jackson has finally travelled to Never Never Land.

I have a huge amount of respect for Michael Jackson. Always have and always will.
He was a giant of the music industry who I grew up with, enjoying every single piece of music he came up with.
It saddens me to no end to realize I will never see him in concert, to know that I will never hear a new Michael Jackson song.
It is a tragedy that he leaves us during a moment in his life when he was trying to get it back together, touring, singing and dancing for our enjoyment.

He would've made so much money.
He would've been out of trouble.
He would've been back on top again.

He was Michael Jackson.
He was the King.

Entertainment News of the Week

Something new here; every Friday I will review the major news in the entertainment biz and gather what I think is worthy of your attention, along with maybe some cynical comments because I’m not a journalist, just some consumer of entertainment.

Like you.

Item 1: Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams will team up to produce Mission Impossible 4.
Pretty good news as far as I’m concerned. I thought MI:3 was the weakest of the bunch but it was still very entertaining and grossed 340+ million dollars at the box office so why not another one? Note that the duo will produce the flick and nothing has yet been said about Cruise reprising his role of Ethan Hunt or of Abrams directing.

I say make Ethan Hunt the leader for a team of new and younger agents that include Zach Quinto as Ethan’s son and make the film closer to the original TV series.


Item 2: Transformers 2 : Revenge of The Fallen premieres in Japan and London to mixed reviews. They say the film is about thirty minutes too long and is made up of more of what we saw in the first one. And this is bad in what way exactly? More robots beating the bolts out of each other can’t be a bad thing in my book. Then again, in my book there was no way The Phantom Menace could be bad…

Also, Director Michael Bay said he would not direct a third instalment.


Item 3: Red Dawn is being remade and Tony Gilroy is writing it. Gilroy wrote, among others, Michael Clayton and all three Bourne films. The first Red Dawn told the tale of a small band of teenagers who adopt the name “Wolverines” and take it upon themselves to liberate the United States from the invading Soviet and Cuban Armies. It starred Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen.

The new invaders are apparently Russia and China but this is subject to change.


Item 4: During a promo interview for Transformers 2, Shia LeBoeuf mentioned that a sript for Indiana Jones 5 was being worked on by Steven Spielberg, or at least that the project was in the works. Apparently people are making too much of this news since Spielberg, having at least Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn and Lincoln in the works, may have only mentioned that Indy 5 was a possibility.

No matter what the details of this news piece are, you can bet that whatever awesomeness could be in Spielberg’s script, it will be washed out when Lucas gets a hold of it and ask his kids what they think Indy should be doing now, besides sitting on the couch smoking a pipe and doing crossword puzzles like their daddy...


Item 5: The Stretch Armstrong movie, being produced by Brian Grazer, could be directed by Ron Howard. The Apollo 13 and Willow helmsman has apparently signed on for this “project”, which is on a list of toy products being made into movies and that so far include Monopoly and Candy land.

You read this right. A monopoly movie; directed by Ridley Scott. I shit you not.


That’s it for this week. There’s lots more depressing things to read on the nets, Like Megan Fox’s thumbs and her anxiety over finding a new boyfriend and many, many more remakes and reboots coming our way from Hollywood in a near future.

Happy father’s day!


Sources: IMDB, Dark Horizons and Rotten Tomatoes

Push - A Review

This was a very interesting movie to watch. I was glued to the screen, attracted by the grittiness of the images and the great acting. Also, the story is very good.

Push takes place in a version of our current world, in Hong Kong to be more precise. People have powers in this world. Some are pushers; they can basically brainwash anyone in a few seconds, making them believe anything they want. Others are movers; they can move things like telekinesis. Watchers see the future or a possible future that is constantly changing based on unpredictable people’s decisions.

In this world, The Division is attempting to harness these powers in order to develop super soldiers. They proceed with a series of experiments on “potentials” with injections.

The film begins with one such potential that survives the injection. She is the first to do so and manages to escape with the only sample of the drug before The Division can contain her and exploit her new found capability.
In order for this woman to properly hide the drug from the Watchers, she has her memory wiped (by Erasers?) and gives herself a note to find a friend who can help her.

What follows is a race to find a suitcase containing the drug.

The film will inevitably generate déjà vu feelings because of its similarities with Heroes but the way the powers are used, the locations where this action takes place and the complex and unique plot will quickly make the viewer forget about its television cousin.

The movie features a great cast led by Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning and Djimon Hounsu whose characters will keep you guessing until the very last second of the film.

The pacing is somewhat slow but the picture features great action scenes where the various powers are used with cleverness and very decent but not overwhelming special effects, such as one particular sequence in a restaurant that has guns literally flying all over the place as two Movers battle each other.

I highly recommend Push to anyone who got a kick from movies like Jumper and the Heroes television series or those who enjoy a clever, smart, sci-fi action film.

8/10