Avatar
In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.
- Released: 2009-12-10
- Runtime: 162 minutes
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi, Laz Alonso, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, Sean Anthony Moran, Jason Whyte, Scott Lawrence, Kelly Kilgour, James Patrick Pitt, Sean Patrick Murphy, Peter Dillon, Kevin Dorman, Kelson Henderson, David Van Horn, Jacob Tomuri, Michael Blain-Rozgay, Jon Curry, Julene Renee, Luke Hawker, Woody Schultz, Peter Mensah, Sonia Yee, Jahnel Curfman, Ilram Choi, Kyla Warren, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Kyle Dryberg, Larry Rew, Dina Morrone
- Director: James Cameron
Comments
- jrob-26690 - 26 May 2024
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Wayyy to much romantic melodrama in this.
The opening scene was Harry about the get laid and the ending scene (right after Dumbledore's funeral) was Hermione talking to Harry about "snogging" Ginny.
That and having to watch the melodrama of Ron getting it on with comically crazy Lavender Brown while Hermione implodes and Harry avoids getting drugged by yet another love interest was cringe and disrupted the otherwise dark tone of the film.
Many pivotal scenes in this didn't really make sense such as why Harry didn't just use the water spell directly in Dumbledore's mouth when he couldn't spoon feed him water, why Bellatrix randomly attacked the burrow (they can't harm harry so what's the point), or why Snape refers to himself as the Half blood prince.
Why did he even decide to to become a death eater. Last movie he was teaching Harry how to protect his mind from Voldemort but it's unclear why he changed sides (this may be revealed in the subsequent movie).
The revelation of the half blood prince as well as Dumbledore's death was weirdly anticlimactic since one revelation had zero leadup and the other suspends your disbelief that the most powerful wizard alive would go down to Snape without a fight.
One could argue this is ok because he was weakened but a weakened master should still solo an advanced magic user. This entry was a tonal mess, that relied to heavily on corny interpersonal conflicts however we got to see more of Tom riddle pre-deformation which was the highlight of this film. Wayyy to much romantic melodrama in this.
The opening scene was Harry about the get laid and the ending scene (right after Dumbledore's funeral) was Hermione talking to Harry about "snogging" Ginny.
That and having to watch the melodrama of Ron getting it on with comically crazy Lavender Brown while Hermione implodes and Harry avoids getting drugged by yet another love interest was cringe and disrupted the otherwise dark tone of the film.
Many pivotal scenes in this didn't really make sense such as why Harry didn't just use the water spell directly in Dumbledore's mouth when he couldn't spoon feed him water, why Bellatrix randomly attacked the burrow (they can't harm harry so what's the point), or why Snape refers to himself as the Half blood prince.
Why did he even decide to to become a death eater. Last movie he was teaching Harry how to protect his mind from Voldemort but it's unclear why he changed sides (this may be revealed in the subsequent movie).
The revelation of the half blood prince as well as Dumbledore's death was weirdly anticlimactic since one revelation had zero leadup and the other suspends your disbelief that the most powerful wizard alive would go down to Snape without a fight.
One could argue this is ok because he was weakened but a weakened master should still solo an advanced magic user. This entry was a tonal mess, that relied to heavily on corny interpersonal conflicts however we got to see more of Tom riddle pre-deformation which was the highlight of this film. Wayyy to much romantic melodrama in this.
The opening scene was Harry about the get laid and the ending scene (right after Dumbledore's funeral) was Hermione talking to Harry about "snogging" Ginny.
That and having to watch the melodrama of Ron getting it on with comically crazy Lavender Brown while Hermione implodes and Harry avoids getting drugged by yet another love interest was cringe and disrupted the otherwise dark tone of the film.
Many pivotal scenes in this didn't really make sense such as why Harry didn't just use the water spell directly in Dumbledore's mouth when he couldn't spoon feed him water, why Bellatrix randomly attacked the burrow (they can't harm harry so what's the point), or why Snape refers to himself as the Half blood prince.
Why did he even decide to to become a death eater. Last movie he was teaching Harry how to protect his mind from Voldemort but it's unclear why he changed sides (this may be revealed in the subsequent movie).
The revelation of the half blood prince as well as Dumbledore's death was weirdly anticlimactic since one revelation had zero leadup and the other suspends your disbelief that the most powerful wizard alive would go down to Snape without a fight.
One could argue this is ok because he was weakened but a weakened master should still solo an advanced magic user. This entry was a tonal mess, that relied to heavily on corny interpersonal conflicts however we got to see more of Tom riddle pre-deformation which was the highlight of this film. Wayyy to much romantic melodrama in this.
The opening scene was Harry about the get laid and the ending scene (right after Dumbledore's funeral) was Hermione talking to Harry about "snogging" Ginny.
That and having to watch the melodrama of Ron getting it on with comically crazy Lavender Brown while Hermione implodes and Harry avoids getting drugged by yet another love interest was cringe and disrupted the otherwise dark tone of the film.
Many pivotal scenes in this didn't really make sense such as why Harry didn't just use the water spell directly in Dumbledore's mouth when he couldn't spoon feed him water, why Bellatrix randomly attacked the burrow (they can't harm harry so what's the point), or why Snape refers to himself as the Half blood prince.
Why did he even decide to to become a death eater. Last movie he was teaching Harry how to protect his mind from Voldemort but it's unclear why he changed sides (this may be revealed in the subsequent movie).
The revelation of the half blood prince as well as Dumbledore's death was weirdly anticlimactic since one revelation had zero leadup and the other suspends your disbelief that the most powerful wizard alive would go down to Snape without a fight.
One could argue this is ok because he was weakened but a weakened master should still solo an advanced magic user. This entry was a tonal mess, that relied to heavily on corny interpersonal conflicts however we got to see more of Tom riddle pre-deformation which was the highlight of this film. Wayyy to much romantic melodrama in this.
The opening scene was Harry about the get laid and the ending scene (right after Dumbledore's funeral) was Hermione talking to Harry about "snogging" Ginny.
That and having to watch the melodrama of Ron getting it on with comically crazy Lavender Brown while Hermione implodes and Harry avoids getting drugged by yet another love interest was cringe and disrupted the otherwise dark tone of the film.
Many pivotal scenes in this didn't really make sense such as why Harry didn't just use the water spell directly in Dumbledore's mouth when he couldn't spoon feed him water, why Bellatrix randomly attacked the burrow (they can't harm harry so what's the point), or why Snape refers to himself as the Half blood prince.
Why did he even decide to to become a death eater. Last movie he was teaching Harry how to protect his mind from Voldemort but it's unclear why he changed sides (this may be revealed in the subsequent movie).
The revelation of the half blood prince as well as Dumbledore's death was weirdly anticlimactic since one revelation had zero leadup and the other suspends your disbelief that the most powerful wizard alive would go down to Snape without a fight.
One could argue this is ok because he was weakened but a weakened master should still solo an advanced magic user. This entry was a tonal mess, that relied to heavily on corny interpersonal conflicts however we got to see more of Tom riddle pre-deformation which was the highlight of this film. - matitya-33937 - 21 February 2024
The other Avatar
I'm huge fan of Avatar. Unfortunately because of this movie whenever I say that I have to specify what I'm talking about by saying "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (even though people associate The Last Airbender with one of the worst movies I have ever seen) or "Nickelodeon's Avatar" or "Avatar, the animated television series" or an assortment of other names (like ATLA) instead of simply saying "Avatar." I could call it "the other Avatar" but 1) it came before this movie did and 2) it was vastly superior to this film.
That said is James Cameron's Avatar a good movie? Yes. Does it have its flaws? Sure. It's too long. Unobtanium is not a great name, Sam Worthington isn't the best actor (he's serviceable but not stellar), and the metaphor gets a bit muddled at the end (the Navi are an obvious stand-in for Native Americans so if it's wrong to persecute them because it turns out their religious beliefs were real would that suggest people who don't share the religious beliefs of Native Americans shouldn't have qualms about persecuting them? I don't think that was the film's intention but taking the allegory too seriously leads to weird places.) Do any of those ruin the movie? Not even close. (Okay, the length comes close but not close enough actually to manage that.)
Cameron's Avatar is a decent film but the Avatar cartoon is still a lot better. - DGPTA - 9 December 2023
So much missed potential.
Man...Avatar. What a really, genuinely, sincerely, disappointing release.
Literally everything about the movie is amazing...
.......except the story. Which, unfortunately, is the most important part about a movie.
The dialogue, the acting, the world building, the casting...obviously the special effects, which are just incredible...all amazing. This movie did literally everything right.
Except the plot. Which is just...awful.
It's literally as lazy a plot as you can think of, one that is in no way based in reality. It's like a 6 year old watched Ferngully: The Last Rainforest and wanted to make their own version of it.
Like, what is this massive, MASSIVE army installation doing on an alien planet brimming with unique, beautiful life, including a peaceful native species?
And when I say massive, I do mean massive. What the **** does a peaceful alien planet need this many machine gun shooting, knife wielding mechs for? Hundreds of missile loaded gun ships? Giant bombs capable of wiping out half a planet?
Like...why? Huh? Makes no sense at all.
Look I'll be the first to acknowledge how awful humans can be, and the especially awful things they've done to indigenous cultures. But no, I'm sorry, if humanity discovered a planet like Pandora, they would NOT bulldoze its most sacred lands and violently commit bloody genocide on the innocent bow-and-arrow wielding natives. That simply would not happen.
As half the base is also scientists, clearly humanity is not at a point where we're all war hungry evil world conquering biological beings bent on galactic destruction. And clearly the people on Earth know about the Na'vi. Governments, committees, checks and balances, those clearly still exist. Even the military installments on our own planet are not this decked out, which is currently full of resources to bulldoze and capitalize on. Why would they have it on an alien planet millions of lightyears away, and not prioritize scientific discovery and establishing relations with a freakin' gorgeous, mystical, peaceful alien race?
There is just no way this sort of behavior would be a thing, and it TOTALLY kills all the other things this movie did right. It's just...dumb.
Sorry, but no. Humans suck, but in the case of a gorgeous alien world like Pandora, they would not suck to this extent, which makes the plot seem like nothing but a lazy, agenda driven narrative.
I cannot emphasize enough I am fully aware of western imperialism and the atrocities committed. Which is exactly WHY this would not happen to this extent in the future. It just wouldn't. They put so much effort into making this a "real" experience, while completely ignoring the one ACTUAL thing that would make it real.
The plot should have involved humans working WITH the Na'vi to stop a unstoppable force on their own planet, or even ANOTHER alien race...literally anything but what they did would have been better.
Ok, rant over. Just severely disappointed cause this could have been an amazing, world changing experience. But instead they chose to go with...this.
It does look amazing though, even 15 years later it's still one of the best looking pieces of cinema out there, far more so than many of the CGI action fests that have come out since.
Very unfortunate. - sfeherdeepinquiry - 6 January 2023
A lot of hype about not much
The values in this movie suck. There is so much tribalism, violence, focus on vengeance, unending platitudes and lousy acting. For the money spent making this movie I hoped there would be more natural beauty as there was in the first movie; to my mind, there was very little. The acting was poor, and there were far too many stereotypes. The movie was way too long; what little plot could have been accomplished in much less time. The director said he cut 10 minutes of graphic violence that he thought was excessive; what he left in was excessive. Whoever financed this movie deserves to lose money, in my opinion. Yes, there were novel special effects, but to what end? Leaving the villain alive at the end serves the hope that a sequel can be made. I certainly won't be wasting my money on it if it is made. This movie sucks! - jimabdullah - 31 December 2022
Visual peace but disappointment at the end
Director could make this movie more thrilling like the first one, i was expecting a grand fight scene and hoping, " oh god, please this cant be the climax, this cant be ". But at last it sucks.
Im Sorry, but......... Im highly disappointed.
I understand, they wanted to reserve those for the third movie. But they compromised with this 2nd one.
They could build a new story for the 3rd one. I must say TEN years does not worth it.
And the story was too long. It felt like it was running for long time. In last half hour, i was yawning literally.
But yes, it was visually peace giving. I liked it watching those. - joeravioli - 24 December 2022
Avatar holds up
Avatar's success was thoroughly unprecedented. No one expected the blue alien movie to be the highest-grossing movie of all time. Though it was marketed as an event film, I remember very little fanfare leading up to it.
And then the movie came out. People watched it, reactions were mixed, typically around the center of the critical spectrum. Few loved it, few hated it. Most thought it was just okay. General criticisms were that the movie was just Dances in Wolves in space, it was too long, and overly simplistic. Though it went on to massive, unreasonable financial success, it faded fast from people's memories. In a few years, people remembered it not for its narrative, not for its characters, but for how much money it made. Then again, that really might have been the most interesting thing about it.
Before watching the sequel, I decided to refresh my memory. I settled in, braced myself, and started up the film's extended edition.
And I have to say: it was pretty darn good.
When you know exactly where the story is going and have a general idea of when it's going to get there, it's far easier to tolerate what on earlier viewings you might have considered to be wheel-spinning. Cameron spends so much time not advancing the plot, delivering pretty visuals and character moments with middling, redundant character insights, but they're delivered in such a brilliantly crafted box that it hardly matters. Cameron really is a master craftsman, and it's a joy to take in his vision, particularly in an era of blockbuster cinema when vision is no longer a priority.
The film does make some mistakes I can't overlook though, particularly in its treatment of its female lead, Neytiri. Saldana puts in an expressive, passionate performance, but is reduced to a standard tsundere trope. She brings Jake into the tribe, teaches him their ways, and falls in love with him in the process, but she is disappointingly single-minded and flat. Her humanity has no texture; she's more symbol than character.
However, the main character is solid. I know this is an unpopular opinion. Worthington definitely struggles with the accent and occasionally abandons it entirely. But he plays the character well. Jake Sully is a good guy, easy to root for. His mistakes we chalk up to general jarhead dumbness, not ill-intent. He's bold, but not obnoxious, confrontational, but not cruel, and most importantly, he approaches the Navi and their culture with an open heart and open mind. Any judgment he may feel towards them is washed away once he immerses himself in their way of life.
The movie is long, and the plot is familiar. But these aren't necessarily bad things. Familiar stories are comforting. They're cozy. And Avatar's first two acts are just that. Watching them, I felt the wonder I didn't feel when I watched the film as a child. Understanding just how much Cameron cares about the environment, how much he wants to preserve and protect it is vital to the experience. Avatar remains a film where its creator's love for filmmaking and nature shines through, and that's something I can easily appreciate. - musmaterialtaller - 20 December 2022
the story doesn't deliever
The movie is really beautiful to see, the tecnology, colors, visual desing of characters, places are outstanding. The music and sound effects are great. Long story short, every technical aspect of the movie is great. The story is the main issue. Characters are poorly developed, the main ones form the past movie get less importance , and considering that the villan of the movie is jake sully´s nemesys i think that was a bad choice. The movie is too long and you spend a really long time watching people swiming and meeting the world of pandora. The story is predictable and has a similar plot of the first movie. - jmillerjr-00983 - 18 December 2022
I Wanted More
Well, no one can argue that this wasn't a visual masterpiece. It really was sensational in that regard. Cameron was able to deliver a George Lucas quality production that will be hard to beat for decades to come.
That said, the plotline was recycled and completely unoriginal. Pocahontas, Fern Gully, Dances with Wolves...we've seen it again and again. The evil white military capitalists disturb the peace-loving indigenous tribe and one of them learns their ways, becomes part of the time, and ends up fighting against his former people. Completely unoriginal.
But the thing is, this is Hollywood. I'd allow unoriginality if it means giving us a fun time at the movies. What I have a much harder time forgiving is the HORRENDOUS screenplay. I mean the script was unnecessarily vulgar, haphazardly trite, and just plain lazy. The thing that made Dances with Wolves amazing (even though it was a very similar plotline) was that the script was incredible. Avatar's script is everything that is wrong with entertainment today. I hope for better things from Way of the Water. - vad19894 - 17 December 2022
Perfect. Simply Perfect
All you can expect from what a masterpiece should be are presented here in this MASTERPIECE. I haven't shed a tear for a long time watching movies but this movie shook me to core with its touching yet immensely deep story. You will have to think a lot about global warming and what humankind has done to earth and how cruel and greedy some country leaders can be when it comes to money and wealth. They can be literal thieves. And Cameron gave us that insight right from 2009. That's how visionary he is apart from the first commercial movie 3d experience. Truly beautiful. Must see. Please do yourself a favor and watch it right away. - wmd-77361 - 12 December 2022
Boring, boring, boring
Bland, bland bland. No real story. Nothing here but special effects. Entertainment for numbskulls. Completely boring. I couldn't care less what happened to the characters. I don't understand what anyone sees in this movie. It's worthless waste of time. I was totally bored. Saw this in the theater when it first came out and wanted to leave after about 1/2 hour but my sister wanted to stay. I tried to take a nap but wasn't tired. I'm not sure what more I can say to make this longer but the website insists the review is longer than I've written above.
Can't remember how it ended; I must have dozed off, so don't worry bout spoilers. The movie itself is a spoiler. Don't waste your time with this complete waste of time and the producer's money. The money used to make this movie should have been given to charity. Shows how low we've fallen when people like horrible stuff like this mind;ESS drivel.
