A few nights ago I saw James Cameron’s Avatar. Went to a theater showing it in 2-d….don’t do that. I think the movie has certain optimum conditions that must be minimally met. One, see it in IMAX 3-D or not at all; two, leave your brain at home, and just react. Try to evoke the range of trigger-happy emotions that emerged when you saw Bambi or Dumbo for the first time, or maybe Billy Jack.
That was absolutely the flattest (3-D rendering nonwithstanding), least interesting movie villain I’ve seen in a long time. My companion said that one can’t say that Colonel Miles is the villain–it’s the corporation, or Western Patriarchy, or Western Greed, or military mindset. But let’s just say as the primary representation of these in the film, the Colonel is laughably bad. I have to wonder what Mr. Cameron has seen, read, or discussed with other lifeforms during the last fifteen years while he was perfecting the computer-generated artistry and special effects that are without peer to date. The Spiderman series, the Batman series, almost any sci-fi movie or TV show or even comic book of the last five years has more interesting villains.
The movie has touching qualities; you can’t help but be horrified for the fierce yet gentle Na’vi when their global network/civilization is demolished by capitalistic greed warfare machinery. I spent the last half hour waiting anxiously for Colonel Miles to buy the farm, and was relieved when he finally did, and happy at how the deed was done and whodunit. The female leads, played by Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana, were feisty and likable; the male lead, played by Sam Worthington, was handsome and adequate, but left me wondering why Cameron didn’t shoot for someone with a bit more charisma. Stephen Lang played Miles Quaritch with a Terminatorlike intensity unencumbered by anything like an introspective thought. If pure archetypal patriarchal awfulness is the desired effect, Cameron got his man.
