Yes, people have lost the ability to appreciate a movie as just that, a movie. Just as people can't seem to enjoy art or music anymore without having to psychoanalyze it and or pry it apart until it's down to nothing. For Avatar in particular, people either 1) can't get past James Cameron's name being on it, 2) think the CGI is ridiculous, 3) think the story is just a rehash of what's been done, or 4) are simply opposed to it because they've only seen the previews and decided it was crap from that. At least, that's what I've found around here.
Personally, I think the rest of the world can shove it because I liked the movie, and yes, I admit that I like a lot of things that other people don't (see also music and art). Maybe I'm alone in this boat, but I suppose it could always be worse.
-The 3D made me seasick, which was physically unpleasant -The story was, morally speaking, sufficiently oversimplified that I felt it was insulting my intelligence. Roughly: Humans bad. Cat people good even though they murder civilian contractors.
However, the helecopter gunship things looked a lot like Banshees from Starcraft 2, and I'm really excited about Starcraft 2, so it was nice to see a shiney, high-resolution banshee in 3d. Maybe James Cameron could make a Starcraft movie. That'd be awesome.
So to respond to Allanon's original post, I never had that ability, nor do I want it. "Let it just stand for what it is" is, to me, an appeal to settle for lower quality entertainment. We have so many options today. If we don't demand better, we will not get better. Conversely, if we do demand better, we will. We, as an audience, get exactly what we deserve. Don't you want to deserve something more than a simple, if beautifully rendered story? Why settle for Yugioh when you can have Mononoke Hime?
I'm not saying we should be settling for lower quality entertainment. I would be highly disappointed if people started doing that. I'm asking why can't people accept something on it's own merits and flaws, and instead have to judge it on how it's associated with something else.
I spent more time enjoying the graphics than I did the movie's storyline. I found the lines a bit flat, personally, and the story very rehashed, the music fairly good. I agree with the comment here that the story was oversimplified to the point of being insulting to the intelligence, but then again, I went to watch it in 3D because I wanted to see how the graphics were, and secondly, because the mall near my home HAD 3D and was MUCH cheaper than the other places where I thought I would have to go to watch it in 3D. I liked the dragon-creature riding scenes. That was fun, for me.
I think the issue is, people wanting stuff to be something other than what it's meant to be.
Avatar is meant to be big and pretty and loud and full of explosions. And it is.
It is not meant to be: High Art Hard Sci-Fi Great Literature An invisible flying submarine
And griping that it's not is kind of pointless. But people seem to love doing so.
I don't think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but there have been far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, worse Soft Sci-Fi action movies.
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For Avatar in particular, people either 1) can't get past James Cameron's name being on it, 2) think the CGI is ridiculous, 3) think the story is just a rehash of what's been done, or 4) are simply opposed to it because they've only seen the previews and decided it was crap from that. At least, that's what I've found around here.
Personally, I think the rest of the world can shove it because I liked the movie, and yes, I admit that I like a lot of things that other people don't (see also music and art). Maybe I'm alone in this boat, but I suppose it could always be worse.
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-The 3D made me seasick, which was physically unpleasant
-The story was, morally speaking, sufficiently oversimplified that I felt it was insulting my intelligence. Roughly: Humans bad. Cat people good even though they murder civilian contractors.
However, the helecopter gunship things looked a lot like Banshees from Starcraft 2, and I'm really excited about Starcraft 2, so it was nice to see a shiney, high-resolution banshee in 3d. Maybe James Cameron could make a Starcraft movie. That'd be awesome.
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I enjoyed Iron Man much more.
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Avatar is meant to be big and pretty and loud and full of explosions. And it is.
It is not meant to be:
High Art
Hard Sci-Fi
Great Literature
An invisible flying submarine
And griping that it's not is kind of pointless. But people seem to love doing so.
I don't think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but there have been far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, worse Soft Sci-Fi action movies.
Reply
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