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James Cameron’s Avatar series.
Then again… Does anyone actually like it? It seems to have all this online hype when it’s such a boring visual spectacle.
It’s like the opposite of the other Avatar franchise, which wasn’t a commercial hit, and seems less popular on paper, but seems to have a massive cultural impact.
After leaving the theatre:
"Did I just pay 20 bucks to watch a CGI rip-off of "Dances With Wolves"?
I remember one critic called it “Dances with Smurfs”
Thats perfect.
I don't know why everyone jumps to Dances With Wolves. It's clearly Pocahontas.
I always thought it was the last fern gully
To a tee.
I believe the impact was mostly to do with the visuals. And, honestly, that is very fair. While it is inctedibly dull and cringe story-wise, the visuals are phenominal, especially since the movie is now already 15 years old.
I feel the same way about Jurassic Park in that sense, though it is much less cringe than Avatar (but still pretty basic story-wise).
But the original Jurassic Park was fun. The writing was sharp and memorable, the cast charismatic, even if the plot is not that important (which is fine).
I did love JC Avatar's alien flora and fauna, and some small details like the realistic spaceship, but I guess it feels much less exciting in hindsight without anything to "attach" it to.
And again... the IP its name collides with is nothing to sneeze at, visually. You can pause it almost anywhere, even in "mundane" scenes, and get gorgeous fantasy shots and incredible music:
My understanding of most people's opinion is that the visuals are stunning but otherwise whatever. It's definitely mine. Avatar 2 has one of the worst written and worst paced stories I have seen in a long time. But it's still almost worth the watch solely to admire the visuals that over-shadow other movies by a mile.
I like both Avatars, both for the same reason:
A lot of work was put into creating a tangible world that isn't Earth. If it weren't for the clearly "magic" elements (also counts for both Avatars) I feel like I could almost... Reach out and touch the world.
This is true. Some elements of JC Avatar were super interesting and detailed. Like the spaceship, that was *ridiculously well-thought-out for such a brief appearance, and no telling how much time was spent on the fauna.
But... they made the overarching story and characters so unremarkable.
I felt something similar watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Talokan (the underwater city) was breathtaking and incredible, no telling how much labor was put into it... only for that gorgeous setting to be used for a brief swim through and never seen again.
You just reminded me of this video again, that explains how unfortunately the world building that went into the music didn't make it to the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL5sX8VmvB8
That was amazing. Thanks for sharing!
the worldbuilding is what's interesting in Avatar, imho. The visuals support that. Story wise it doesn't do a good job of being surprising
See, I'm baffled by this one, now I've only seen the first movie so maybe there's something in the second I don't know about in world building. But the first, the world building was to me... meh? Okay, the alien planet was interesting, they have a culture, they seemed to do a fine job with that, cool. But the story makes humanity so blitheringly stupid that I cannot comprehend the worldbuilding beyond "We need some Captain Planet level villains." They're after unobtanium, a mineral that has properties for anti-gravity and wrecking havok on radar. Soooooo.... We're going to work hard on inserting someone to convince the locals to dig up under the religious tree for the major vein of it instead of the MULTIPLE floating mountains all over the place.
Which then when the military decides to do its thing, this spacefaring species uses glorified helicopters that fly lower and slower than modern military aircraft, again through the mountains of unobtainium in a low altitude approach for a strike operation that only makes sense if the enemy has radar... which the aliens definitely did not. I seriously might have missed something but I couldn't get past humanity in it was just carrying the idiot ball throughout the movie.
Yea all that to me belongs to script. And I agree it's not very good. When I say worldbuilding, I'm talking about the ecosystem and its interconnectedness. It does a good job of mirroring the Earth's and I consider it to be a proper -although indirect- awakening to the beauty of terrestrial biology.
I have never seen it. I got wind of the similarities between the American Indian Wars and Dances With Wolves/Ferngully and decided that my time and money were better spent elsewhere. I don't need another reminder of the pain it is to be Lakota and look into the past.
The funny thing is James Cameron acts like the movie and message are so profound.
Honestly at this point I think he's saying whatever he can to continue funding his submarine hobby.
He's not completely wrong, sure the story has been done a ton because it's a solid and engaging tale to learn about a new world/culture. Also the technological portion of the movie used several new methods and cameras for the first time in a theater and introduced so many methods that are in use today.
"Certified door expert" James Cameron
It was praised in its theatrical release, and I remember being one of the few people that didn't like it.
When it came out for home release, public opinion shifted on it quickly. When it can't use its 3D effects to wow the audience and make it go "Look at that creature, look at those plants, isn't this fun and imaginative." its story has to stand on its own. And since that story is "Dances With Smurfs: Baby's First Creative Writing Project"... Yeaaaah no
I knew it was going to be shit when in an interview James Cameron said "You can see how even the best humans are bad people and even the worst Na'vi are good people!", and me being a writer immediately saw a red flag.
This is true, I remember it being lauded in theaters.
I mean, I guess not everyone is media savvy and the story could have felt "new" to some, but there wasn't a character that stood out or anything, no cast stealing the show...
The vibe I got was that people were oohed and ahhed by the "Colors man!"
But if I wanted that I could just stayed home, put on some synthwave, and eat some of those psycilosibin gummies they sell at vape shops.
I liked the first one!on acid. On a 3D TV. I don’t see myself ever watching the second.
What is that other Avatar franchise? I watched the first movie when I was just a kid so my opinions highly influenced by my emotions. I don’t think it is the best sci-fi movie out there but I really like Avatar (2009).
Avatar the Last Airbender, and the Legend of Korra.
The animation, specifically. The Netflix series is OK, and there is absolutely no movie adaptation.
Funny enough, I watched them when I was like 19, but Korra, Zuko and Iroh are still three of my favorite characters in anything ever. I remember it vividly, where I can't remember a single line from the James Cameron Avatar (which I watched as a teen when it came out).
Thank you for making it clear that there's no movie. There's a lot of misinformation on the internet and some people happen to think that there is one.
There is no movie in Ba Sing Se.
Here, we are safe. Here, we are free.
Oh, I thought there is another Avatar (blue one) movie created by somebody else. Avatar animated series are more influential for me too but why compare these totally unrelated works? They have the same name but they are so different that any comparison is absurd to me.