Concerning Avatar

[gothprincesskiara]

Hey Avatar fans, no not the airbender on, im talking about Pandora and the Na'vi world. Enlighten me on this, So I recently watch the movie again and once I watch it I get hooked on it , I cant get enough of it, especially as a environmental person, I so regret not seeing it in theaters 3D , because of its success, and I support this movie 100% because of its indigenous message, which I support as well. The fact that it was at the top of Office box at during its time, it garenteed that James Cameron would make the next one, but as we have all heard im sure that he keeps pushing it back further into the future which seems to be making it less promising now , what I mean by this is alot of people are now saying they dont care for Avatar anymore. I dont get it, this was such a SUCCESSFUL BEAUTIFULL WELL DONE movie, it made millions, and yes Star Wars is now the king of all movies or was I dont know anymore, but still just like we say Lion King will always be one of the the best even below the king of all the other top made movies, How can others not care for Avatar anymore? it doesn't makes sense, this movie never gets old watching it, at least that what I think. my point is with Avatar being a success before Stars Wars became #1, is there any hope that Avartar 2 can be just as good even though James Cameron keeps moving the date farther and farther?

[TheLionPrince]

Given the user ratings on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic, people still generally like Avatar; it's just a vocal minority that is decrying the film. Most people don't like Avatar because it recycles a similar storyline (more specifically the white savior narrative) from Dances with Wolves, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and Pocahontas, and it made over $2 billion worldwide based on being sold alone as a cinematic 3D experience.

As for Avatar 2, who knows how good it will be as for right now? Given the years James Camron has invested in the film because he is a perfectionist and the extended wait, it better be good for its own sake.

[Squeely]

I enjoyed Avatar quite a bit. The story may not have been that original, but the world and the creatures were cool. I'd say there's a good chance Avatar 2 will be good. All Cameron needs to do is come up with a more unique story and maybe a few new creatures, and that doesn't seem that difficult to accomplish.

[DGFone]

Much like how TheLionPrince described, I remember liking Avatar for being a great visual experience, but not liking it for... well, it's not exactly a very good movie. What it did show, and very much is still the case for many movies, is that 3D isn't something you slap on in post production. When one well it can look very good, and can change the movie experience. Done wrong, it can ruin the movie.

Ironically enough, when I saw a Hobbit movie in theaters with a friend, the 3D made it feel more like a diorama than TLK in 3D.

[gothprincesskiara]

thank god im at least not the only one who has high hopes for the second one

[Ultra Fox]

Avatar was really cool when I saw it in IMAX at release.

Trying to watch it again on blu-ray later on, however... the many flaws shine through. It's mediocre at best and pretty bad at worst.

Also, the CG hasn't held up that well as one would hope.

[WildSimba]

It was okay. When you see it in theaters with the nice flashy 3D, it seems cooler than it really is. But it's really just an okay film, not anywhere near as good as a film made by Cameron should be. lol

[Carl]

I really really like the movie. I never saw it in 3D, but I love it anyway. I don't care that the story isn't "original enough," I mean, nothing is entirely original at this point. I'm sure I'll enjoy the sequel too.

[Sigurd]

I thought it was ok. But I've seen a lot of better movies so I don't think it deserves all the hype it had back then.

[Panpardus]

Jumping on an old thread for the sake of it.

I really liked Avatar back when it was first released, mostly for the sci-fi aspect of it. It was (and still is) a great visual experience, and I've come to really appreciate certain aspects of the creature design and ecology of the non-Na'vi animals. That said, I did notice the whole white savior motif the first time I saw it, and the more I thought about it later on the more I thought it was stupid and not really worth praising. It also introduced me to a trend I started noticing in sci-fi space films in which a typical movie featuring humanoid aliens will usually have most of its non-white actors playing said aliens, prominent examples aside from Avatar including Zoe Saldana (again) as Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and Lupita Nyong'o as a little old alien woman in The Force Awakens. I don't know, it just seems to reinforce the whole "only white people are gonna be in space in the future" kind of trope to me (since the human characters are almost always white) and I'm not saying Avatar is the start of that trope, but having an entire alien culture being an amalgamation of Native American and African cultures (and played by black and Native American actors) who run around nearly nude (and in an unnecessarily sexualized fashion, since there's no real reason for their females to have breasts) in a lush primeval, exotic jungle; I don't know, it's just kinda the tackiest example in that regard and falls into the tired 'noble savage' trope.

Story-wise, it was pretty typical; the only reason it was hyped up was because of the sci-fi angle and the spectacle it was from a viewing perspective. I really don't see where Cameron can go with his story without running the franchise into the ground, especially given that he's trying to milk at least three (maybe four) sequels out of this whole thing. I personally don't see any of them getting made, and he's pretty much overstayed his welcome in that regard among audiences, so that's my take on why I've personally grown disenchanted by Avatar.