Avatar - the Movie - Another Opinion

Today, I watched Avatar for the first time. I've seen it come up in internet discussions for some time now, but I had not actually seen it. People have been saying that it's a great movie and that I just have to watch it, so I did. My reaction is that it's an OK movie; not great, not wonderful, but OK. I'm glad that I watched it at home, instead of going to the theater for it. I don't really have a problem with it, except to say that it's a remake of an earlier movie; one that I saw about twenty years ago. Some of you already know what I'm talking about, but for those who don't, let me summarize the story.

There is a group of people who want to exploit a certain resource and there is an indigenous population living in the place that is to be 'harvested' for this resource. There is a guy who works for those who would do the harvesting of said resource. He goes in among the people living there and is befriended by a girl. The girl has a boyfriend already, but she gives him up in favor of this new guy who is obviously not even a member of her species. The girl teaches him about her life and her world. Everything she knows is wrapped up in nature; the trees, the animals, the people are all bound together. The two of them fall in love in short order and the guy chooses to fight against the exploitation of these people, their world and their way of life. At one point, the truth is revealed about our hero; he is in the employ of those who would destroy this paradise. The girl turns away from him for this, but he is able to redeem himself and wins her back. He even manages to befriend the girl's former boyfriend, who becomes one of his greatest allies in the fight. In the end, he is victorious and the girl, her people and her world are saved from the evil would-be exploiters.

That pretty well sums it up, right? Right. Except, I wasn't describing Avatar. I was giving you a summary of the earlier movie; Fern Gully. If you haven't seen it already you should rent it. Say you're doing it for the kids...

To give credit where credit is due, it really is a good movie. It shows us how far CGI has come in the past few years. The movements and facial expressions are much more fluid and believable than what we saw a few years ago. A few years from now, the computer guys will likely be able to produce characters that you cannot tell from real people. Of course, when they use it for fantasy creatures and races, as they did in Avatar, the very nature of their creations will give them away. But I can imagine a day when there will be CGI representations of real people in believable situations that will be almost impossible to distinguish from live action.

In dramas, mysteries, historical romance settings I believe there will come a time when an actor/actress might license the use of his or her image for a movie and the result will be so good that it will be a point of argument whether the actor was actually on the set or vacationing in the Bahamas while the film was being shot. We're not there yet. Through this whole movie I can't say that there was even a moment when I wasn't totally aware that this is a glorified cartoon. I found it easier to believe in the characters and situations presented in 'The Incredibles'.

OK, so much for that. What did I not like about Avatar? Well, first, I'm sure that many millions of dollars were spent on CGI and special effects, plus a few millions spent on some sets. Why couldn't they give the writers an extra ten bucks to come up with a real name for this fabulous mineral that they wanted to exploit? I mean, come on; what is Unobtainium? Where does it fall on the periodic table of elements? I can only guess that it's somewhere between Impossibilium and Imaginarium. What are its properties? What is it used for? Why is it so valuable that they are willing to travel to a distant star system and wage war in order to get it? None of these questions are answered in the movie.

Secondly, why are they so bent on exploiting this particular source of the mineral? It is stated that this is the biggest concentration that has been found, but that implies that other sources exist. Why then is it imperative that this location be under a deadline? Why not continue to mine the other locations while negotiations are established for this one?

It is not stated that the mineral itself is especially needed to sustain the people who live there. The mineral just happens to be in the ground beneath their feet. The machinery used to mine the mineral obviously cost a substantial amount of money, but considering the value of the mineral is there not some way to burrow under the ground and get to it without disturbing the people who live above?

I also have a problem with the underlying message of the movie. It's never stated straight out, but there is an unmistakable reference late in the movie. Our 'hero' talks about there being no green on their own world, which leads them to exploit this one. This movie is environmentalist propaganda and that statement gives it away, just like Fern Gulley was twenty years ago.

In my youth I listened to the environmentalists because their arguments seemed to make sense. As I have grown older I have seen that their predictions of eminent doom have not come to pass. There was a time when they said that the population would overburden the world and its resources and we would descend into cannibalism in order to survive. Their estimations of the time of this catastrophe have already passed us by and we don't hear such things anymore, but they keep plugging away at the other items on their agenda.

Still, it's an OK movie. You should rent it sometime, but I wouldn't buy the thing unless it's for the kids, and on sale.