Avatar, the good, the bad, and the meh.

(Photo by Pietro Jeng)

I usually don't do movie reviews, but I felt this one is appropriate considering that movies are a storytelling medium- plus, this movie's made almost 2 billion dollars so far. In other words, it's doing something right. Study up my burgeoning writers, directors, and film majors! 

Before I get started, I have to post a short disclaimer here: I am going to avoid major spoilers, however, I might give away some smaller ones. As much as I would like to go in-depth on this one I will abstain and perhaps bring it up in the future. 

For convenience I will break this down into five parts; the story, the characters and their development, the use of elements and themes, world-building, and lastly, the visual aesthetics. Hopefully, this will answer the question- Does it tell a good story and should I go see it? 

Starting off with the story and plot. There's no easy way to say this, the story and plot are the weakest part of the movie. That being said, I didn't have the same complaints that most critics did. Their main complaint was that it was too simple to be good, the implication being that simple is bad. I disagree, simple can be perfect. They are right that the plot is nothing special, both stick to what is tried and true. I think good ol' Jim was trying to send a message and make it as obvious as humanly possible. In that, he succeeds. My only problem is that it makes for a rather un-nuanced story. When you watch this movie, you're going to know what will happen next. You're going to be able to guess where the story is going, and don't expect to be surprised by the end, you most likely won't be. 

The character development is fair, Jake and his family have come a long way in the decade-plus since we last saw them. Several children have been hatched and Jake, Neytiri, and the gang have become a family unit. They are forced to go on the run when the "Sky People" return, so they pack up the family and leave the trees for the beach and the ocean. Their journey is rough, and the family really has to work to be accepted by the water people, the Metkayina. This is where most of the character development happens. And spoiler alert, it's not mom and dad who develop, it's the children. Good old Jim shut that pipeline off, they were developed enough in the first movie. When it boils down to it, the children are the future of the franchise, so naturally, they will get the development. But it's not just Jake's kids, there are some additions as two family members aren't Jake's kids. The first is a character called "Spider", which is, of course, wait for it... the human child of General Quarich (as in the bad guy from the first movie). Spider was left behind because of Macguffin (babies can't travel in space)! So Jake raises him. He hasn't added much to the plot by the end, but he gets to see how his dad was a shit-father. The other adopt' is the child of immaculate conception, AKA Na'vi Jesus. Kiri is the child born of Grace Augustine's corpse. Yep, you read that right. There's no way around this, and I am going to get really "meta" here, so prepare yourself. Grace, the character played by Segourney Weaver in the first movie has a kid (also voiced by none other than Segourney Weaver). Grace dies in the first movie while playing at being a Na'vi, she is mortally injured and buys a dirt farm. Her human body dies, but somehow her Na'vi avatar lives, and gets or is pregnant. The lifeless Avatar has the baby. The baby seems to be the reincarnation of Grace born into the body of a Na'vi. If I can recall, I don't think she did the Pandora doodle with any of the dude aliens, so this baby is Na'vi Jesus. Oh, and this Na'vi Jesus has magical powers too. She is able to control the plants and animals of Pandora. This fact was never developed or explained- maybe Jim is saving it for later. I have the feeling that Spider and Kiri are going to be the ones who get the development in the next films.       

The elements and themes of this movie are blatant, out in the open, and Jim has no illusions about the message he is putting out there. They are straightforward, dealing with the destructive nature of man and how we destroy everything we touch in the pursuit of profit. Whereas the last movie was clearly an allegory about deforestation and earth-rape mining, this one is about the exploitation of the oceans. More specifically whale hunting. I don't even know if I could call it allegory, there really is nothing hidden about it. Jim has gone full hippy-dippy for the Avatar series, so expect a fair amount of "in your face" messages. Each one is designed to reflect our current times and what we doing to earth with each tree we fall and each milk jug we toss into the ocean. I am sure the upcoming sequels will have more messages like these. Jim uses graphic elements to drive the point home too, he is not playing with the imagery he uses. It's to the point, and without pulling any punches. First, he makes the audience feel for, and revere the creatures in the Oceans of Pandora, then, he kills them in frivolous and wasteful ways. The effect is a message that can't be missed unless, of course, you are a total idiot. While these messages do not bother me, and add something to the story, they are stacked so thick that sometimes the movie gets lost in the land of Sanctamonium.

There isn't much I can say about the world-building of Pandora, except "bravo!", as per usual, this is one of Jim's strongest fortes'. It's clear he's thought out every little detail about the world, from the smallest creatures to the largest ones. He not only nails the world of Pandora and its authenticity, but he also nails the world of men too. His mission was to show a division between the two worlds to represent how different they are. Pandora is a lush world of plants, wildlife, and incandescent light. It's full of life and vibrancy. The world of man is a hard, grey, robotic war machine poised to destroy everything. The contrast is quite stark and it illustrates a valid point, more so, it parallels where we are as a species.   

I almost didn't separate this last one, but, much like the first movie, Avatar's visuals are next level. This film is meticulous with every detail, every texture, every color, every contour, and all the CGI edited with perfection. You can't tell this is motion capture; this movie is gorgeous. It's done so well that it dulls the rest of the movie. And there is the biggest issue with the movie, in my humble opinion; the visuals are so good that they overwhelm everything else. The plot, themes, story, and characters, all live in the shadow of the visuals. To be honest, though, I don't think it could be done any differently. It's hard to compete on that level so I will forgive the weaker points in this film. None of this takes away from the movie, especially the climax. 

When all is said and done, I would give this movie a 95% or better. It does the job when it comes to storytelling and is a solid winner in cinema, especially given the crap that's been spat out lately. If nothing else, go to it and see it for the artful visuals and world-building part of it. Most people will enjoy this movie. Despite my mild complaints and super subtle bitching, I actually found this movie a joy to watch, it was immersive and a good follow-up to the first one.

Cheers!