Yeah I hear you but the film is for kids and adults so Cameron had to make it relatable for everyone.
I didn't think it was a bad movie. I just didn't find it to be a very original movie. There wasn't much of a script or real story arc to it. It was visually dynamic, but so was the first one. Remember, critics weren't praising it for its original story either! I thought Valerian was visual eye candy. I would have liked to see it in a theater in 3D. It really didn't need to be any near as long as it was.
I don't have an issue with any movie being for kids, including this one. I just pointed out it was a movie that was all over the place as far as the script and plot was concerned.
See, here's the thing – you actually went and saw the movie, and your comments are based on what you thought about it. That's valid. It's when I read paragraphs upon paragraphs of invective from people who didn't even see it that it seems weird to me. But for you to see it, not care for it, and say so, is 100% valid.
Yup. There are plenty of movies I wouldn't want to see and whose popularity I don't get. I'd never see a "Jackass" movie, for instance. But I don't go into those threads and insult people who do like them even though I never saw the films. (Oatsdad scurries off to make sure he never posted insults in "Jackass" threads... )
This is what I thought also: not a great story (but not terrible either) but visually stunning. Could have been shorter. A few days after we saw this we saw the original on Disney Plus. I’m glad to have seen the sequel.
As a "seasoned" veteran of movie watching what would you consider to be the last new release you've seen to be original & fresh? I'm the same way, at this point there isn't much new under the sun either in movies or music, it's how the creators package and combine those classic elements. Now for a 10 year old seeing WoW with their parents it might be a life altering moment similar to what a lot of oldsters experienced in the 70's with Star Wars.
As I mentioned before: To take things further, I think there should more movies that are primarily made for children. That doesn't at all mean that they should be dumbed down. Children are not stupid and are very perceptive. I have little time and/or patience dealing with adults and their drama. I do and have spent quite a bit of time and effort with children. Rather than to program them, I like to expose them to things like science and the arts. Back in the VHS video tape days, I used to bring my friend's children Disney and other videos all the time. I have taken children to plays like Cats. Before retiring in 2018, I took children to see Disney's, Beauty and the Beast and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. What I refused to do for some thirty years now, is to turn on a commercial TV program for children to watch. I consider movies to be a first class excellent entertainment for children (At least up until most recently). I maintained a library of DVD's for my motel guests to borrow, including a special section of movies for children and family's. I am fine with movies like Avatar and Star Wars being children's movies before they are anything else.
Maybe it's me but I think the storyline in both Avatar's are creative and original. I know I've never seen anything like them before. Going to a new planet in the solar system, trying to raid it for its resources, getting into battle with the natives who live there, one of the bad guys turning good and having a family with the natives, eventually moving them to a water civilization where they need to try to save whales. Seems fresh creative and completely original to me. Of course the visuals of immersing yourself in Pandora's world is awesome, but the storyline is no slouch either.
You might have missed a Science Fiction movie or two as long the way, such as War of the Worlds or Independence Day? In pretty much every movie where there is an invasion by "Aliens" (Aliens meaning not native), the visitors have come to take riches or perhaps to destroy the indigenous life in favor of their own. This isn't limited to Science Fiction. Ever see Dances With Wolves? Maybe think of the Spanish Conquistadors? Nobody makes a long expensive journey just to say hello... It is possible that you were watching a different movie than I was? Just so you know, I liked both Avatar's. They were entertaining eye candy, original, not so much. If you read the not so original critical reviews of the first movie, this is one of the key observations from the movie critics. Like others, I don't view these movies as anything warranting critical acclaim, just entertainment for entertainment's sake. Adding, that the principle reason I go to a theater to see a movie, is for entertainment, not for any moral lesson...
I of course loved all the Jackass movies. Having said that, I fully support your constitutional right to stay away from them.
I haven't seen the new Avatar movie yet, but I was completely awestruck by the original when I saw it at the Humphrey IMAX Dome theater here in Milwaukee. Talk about immersive! That was an experience that sadly doesn't exist today. I'm afraid seeing it at a "normal" theater will not wow me like that did.
I can think of worse themes than saving whales and forests, which are both noble goals. As are films of consciousness.
The only science fiction movies I've seen are pretty much the original planet of the apes and its sequels and WALL-E. And as far as I understood it Jake was originally one of the bad guys in the original Avatar, but then after meeting Neytiri he turned good.
You understand incorrectly. Jake's brother was a trained scientist for the Avatar program. Avatar's are not some empty robot body, they are specially grown incorporating DNA from a specific human. Jake's brother was killed for the paper in his pocket. In common lingo, he was killed during a robbery. The Avatar people contacted Jake to take his brother's place because his DNA was a close match to his brother. The Avatar program was created to make friends with the Navi and learn their habits. It was the initial intention to create trade between their people and the company. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) was the xenobotanist in charge of the Avatar Program for RDA - she even has an Avatar of her own. Jake was a member of her team. Early in the movie Jake was contacted by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) to gather intel for him on the Navi. Being an ex-marine, Jake complies at first, then sides with the Navi after learning their ways and becoming one of them. Jake was never the bad guy. Earlier in the movie, the audience was unsure which side he was really on, adding to the plot.
Going to a New World on the planet Earth, trying to raid it for its resources, getting into battle with the Native Americans that live there, John Smith marrying Pocahontas... and then a little originality on top as a treat. Might be some elements in a blender, and might be a little uncommon to tell this story in sci-fi, but... I've also heard it called Dances With Wolves In Space, which I'm not sure how well that metaphor tracks.
Avatar: The Way Of Water is also getting some praise in unexpected places for having heroic characters that are very pro-family. An interesting article in The Federalist below by one of their media critics who really loves the movie. There are some spoilers in the review so read at your own peril, if you have not scene the movie yet. More than 13 years after the original “Avatar” movie was released, the sequel, “Avatar: The Way Of Water,” is making history at the box office. The most compelling reason to return to Pandora isn’t just the movie’s stunning visuals, new characters, and dramatic plot. It’s the beautiful pro-family message woven into the film’s storyline. 'Avatar: The Way Of Water' Is Pleasantly Pro-Family
I guess I saw him as the bad guy who eventually turned when he met Neytiri. That was part of the reason why Quaritch told Jake in the way of water that he turned his back on his own kind, thereby betraying them. That's how I saw it at least. Others may see it differently.
It's the family dynamics that really touched me in this movie. I was on the verge of tears multiple times, and not just during the whale scenes. The emotional aspect of the movie I so wasn't expecting.
I think this is touched on a lot more in the Project 880 script & some of the deleted scenes from the first movie, a lot of the researchers/scientists and Avatars fall in love with the reality of Pandora as opposed to the narrative new recruits are fed which is to fear everything beyond "that fence". The Na'vi are called flea bitten savages, blue monkeys, they're hard to kill etc...by RDA leadership, not worthy of any type of compassion. Jake working as an informant for Quaritch and security escort for Grace's team gets exposed to the reality of Pandora and how the Na'vi live their lives, that's when his inner conflict begins and he eventually sides with them. Very early in the movie Jake does say that all he wants in his life is one thing worth fighting for, he made his decision. The dream hunt deleted scene from Avatar goes a little deeper into that inner conflict.
It is not so much that the themes are bad, but they, at least to me, seem cliched and simple. I have NOT seen the movie, but saw the first one, and felt like other than impressive 3D effects and CGI, it was mostly an excuse to bash us over the head with a Liberal type of storyline. Rewatching the first one recently made me see it in a far different light. The impressive visuals are now not as impressive and I instead focused on the actual storyline and "Message". I can not call this a children's movie, but more a simplistic story line for all ages. I felt less entertained and more "Preached" to in some regards.
Finally going to go and see it tomorrow ..... While the director claimed that the film needed to become the fifth highest-grossing film of all time to break even, Variety reported that he was embellishing and that the release would begin to make a profit once it hit an international gross of $1.5bn. It is almost there apparently.
Someone explain to me Sigourney Weaver's kid character in this? Did a human have sex with her avatar, or did a Navi' have sex with human Sigourney Weaver? Surely it's the former, though I'm surprised we're supposed to accept that could work. It was visually gorgeous. Mostly entertaining, but pretty much more of the same. With a kid focus. Not sure I see much point in part 3 if its just the same yet again. How about a movie on Pandora with no humans, and it just be conflict among the tribes? I know we're supposed to pretend they are all just peaceful and stuff. But how do all the tribes have great warriors if they never have wars? If it is just the sky people coming back again, maybe they'll have finally figured out how to equip vehicles with glass that can deflect hand fired bow and arrow.
There are two children in WoW that we only have half an explanation for. Perhaps that is because Cameron intends to provide a more thorough explanation in #3?
I get that we don't know who Kiri's father is. But were we supposed to know was she born from Dr. Augustine's avatar? The character gets called "half-breed" and has a different # of fingers, so I guess we're supposed to accept that human and navi' can actually procreate? Who is the other you refer to, Spider? We know who the dad is. Probably won't ever know the mother. My understanding is that the other 3 kids (the two brothers Netayan and Lo'ak and the little runt Tuk) were all the natural born kids of Sully and Neytiri.
