Finally saw Avatar in 3D, and have many thoughts, the foremost is this:
Is the perfect movie too much to ask for? Is it possible? Is it ever-elusive?
Okay, that was three thoughts, but my name's on the url and yours isn't.
Avatar. "Changing the movie industry forever." James Cameron didn't just write and direct this little film, he invented the technology that made it possible, built the camera, spent years making it, etc. He created new species of creatures, had a completely original language written for the natives to speak, and made it all look really, really spiffy.
But.
With alllll that originality and imagination and creativity, there were some significant retreads. Por ejemplo: it could be called "Pocahontas Dances With Wolves and the Last Samurai in Fern Gully" because the story is not original. Also not original? the use of Papyrus. All those millions of dollars and no custom font? Weak. Also? In the story, the baddies are trying to bulldoze the good guys in order to gain access to a very valuable mineral that is otherwise very difficult to obtain. The completely original name for this mineral? "Unobtainium." As my friend Daniel pointed out, why didn't they just call it "Can'tHavesies"? Trust me, the dialog was clunky enough that the mineral could've been called "Wsdvdsoiewfjnig709" and we still would've understood the situation. Also? some of the stockest stock characters seen on a major movie in a long time. You have the trigger-happy cigar-chomping militant who just wants to blast everything to kingdom come, and believes that anyone in a disagreement is an pie-eyed hippie. You also have Mr. Soulless Corporate GreedyPants, who can't see anything but dollar signs and is ignorant enough to call anything non-white a 'heathen' or 'savage' or 'fly bitten'. There are a host of other stock characters, and really, only about 2 characters in the entire cast undergo any arc at all. Everyone else is what we call 'flat', as in, no dimension. Can't really do that on a movie of this size, Mr. Cameron. You gotta have story and dimension.
i enjoyed the movie, it was a visual feast and was fun and thrilling and all that, but it also made me sad, because it could have been SO much better; it could've been perfect. If time and creativity were applied to the story and characters as diligently as it was applied to EVERYTHING else, i would proclaim it Most Worthy of Every Accolade Ever.
Does the perfect movie exist? i realize that one person's 'Anchorman' is another person's 'Gladiator', and there are certainly some excellent films out there. Let's limit our thinking to more epic fare because a film small in scope of time/space/species can be quite close to perfect. Can an Epic Blockbuster also be a Perfect Movie?
(i don't know, that's why i'm asking you.)
With alllll that originality and imagination and creativity, there were some significant retreads. Por ejemplo: it could be called "Pocahontas Dances With Wolves and the Last Samurai in Fern Gully" because the story is not original. Also not original? the use of Papyrus. All those millions of dollars and no custom font? Weak. Also? In the story, the baddies are trying to bulldoze the good guys in order to gain access to a very valuable mineral that is otherwise very difficult to obtain. The completely original name for this mineral? "Unobtainium." As my friend Daniel pointed out, why didn't they just call it "Can'tHavesies"? Trust me, the dialog was clunky enough that the mineral could've been called "Wsdvdsoiewfjnig709" and we still would've understood the situation. Also? some of the stockest stock characters seen on a major movie in a long time. You have the trigger-happy cigar-chomping militant who just wants to blast everything to kingdom come, and believes that anyone in a disagreement is an pie-eyed hippie. You also have Mr. Soulless Corporate GreedyPants, who can't see anything but dollar signs and is ignorant enough to call anything non-white a 'heathen' or 'savage' or 'fly bitten'. There are a host of other stock characters, and really, only about 2 characters in the entire cast undergo any arc at all. Everyone else is what we call 'flat', as in, no dimension. Can't really do that on a movie of this size, Mr. Cameron. You gotta have story and dimension.
i enjoyed the movie, it was a visual feast and was fun and thrilling and all that, but it also made me sad, because it could have been SO much better; it could've been perfect. If time and creativity were applied to the story and characters as diligently as it was applied to EVERYTHING else, i would proclaim it Most Worthy of Every Accolade Ever.
Does the perfect movie exist? i realize that one person's 'Anchorman' is another person's 'Gladiator', and there are certainly some excellent films out there. Let's limit our thinking to more epic fare because a film small in scope of time/space/species can be quite close to perfect. Can an Epic Blockbuster also be a Perfect Movie?
(i don't know, that's why i'm asking you.)
1 comment:
I think???... A Blockbuster will never be the perfect movie--because there is no perfect movie. The fact that it is a blockbuster immediately disqualifies it from the "perfect movie" arena b/c it is impossible to please THAT many people. Every great story ever written is some version of Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, Romeo and Juliet...etc...b/c there is no original story anymore...only variations of the classics. If someone disagrees with that statement, then write a completely original-never-seen-the-likes-of-it-before tale. (You won't. I promise.)
But, I do believe that a blockbuster can have the perfect message. And that, despite the flat characters and mineral name (I found the name funny--they weren't serious when naming it that), Avatar had the perfect message for today. That's what makes a movie perfect. The Message.
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