I hate to be a contrarian, but the following must be said: ‘Avatar’ is not a mind-blowing film. Is it a good film? Yes. Does it have great special effects? Yes. Is it ‘Best Picture’ quality? Not at all.
The latest epic from, director, James Cameron just enjoyed its seventh week at No. 1 in the box office. Why? Most people seem to think that it is the second coming of Christ as far as science-fiction films go. It is not.
For some reason, ‘Avatar’ has become the gold standard by which to base sci-fi films on. Perhaps it is because of its eye-popping special effects? Even with that, where its special effects surpass just about any movie ever made, its generic plot does not.
I suppose that many of the people who saw ‘Avatar’ are new to the whole sci-fi genre, and that much is understandable. There are not as whole lot of sci-fi movies released annually. But, in the sweeping hype of ‘Avatar,’ we have forgotten the roots of the genre. It is sad when movies like ‘Alien,’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘The Abyss’ get swept under the rug. People forget the ground-breaking cinema these movies were.
It’s not that I hated ‘Avatar,’ in fact, I liked it a lot. But, things must be put into perspective. ‘Avatar’ is basically a retelling of ‘Pocahontas’ set on a different planet: protagonist is a member of a group that will rape and pillage the natives; protagonist has a change of heart; protagonist joins up and becomes one of the oppressed and fights with them; rinse and repeat.
As far as special effects go, ‘Avatar’ is in a league of its own, but again, we need perspective! ‘No movie has ever looked like that’ is a line I have heard many people use – and abuse – when describing ‘Avatar.’
What about ‘Star Wars,’ when it was first released in 1977? That movie had groundbreaking special effects, and it was, for all intents and purposes, the ‘Avatar’ of its time. Five years later, ‘E.T. ‘- The Extra-Terrestrial’ revolutionized movie special effects once again. In 1986 James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ was released and people were wowed yet again.
While special effects are definitely a strong suit of ‘Avatar,’ to say that it looks like no other movie ever made is a gross overstatement. It is vastly ignorant of the storied history of the sci-fi genre.
The Golden Globe Awards’ bestowing of the ‘Best Motion Picture’ award to ‘Avatar’ is perhaps the biggest mistake of all. What about Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’? That was a better film by all accounts, especially in the acting department, and the story was unabashedly original. Or how about ‘Up In The Air,’ starring George Clooney as a ‘transition counselor,’ who, start to finish, goes through a complete reversal of character? It was not quite as effects-laden as ‘Avatar,’ to be frank, but the story, again, was extremely fresh and the acting was second-to-none.
Should ‘Avatar’ win ‘Best Picture’ at the upcoming Academy Awards, it would be a true travesty.
It doesn’t take much to amaze people, and ‘Avatar’ is proof of that fact. It definitely is a good movie and it is interesting throughout, but to bestow upon it so many accolades and awards, to laud it so highly, is to ignore the following fact: At its core, it is just a generic film that is candy-coated with top-of-the-line special effects.
Gerry Wachovsky is a graduate student and columnist for the Daily Forty-Niner.
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