Saturday, February 13, 2010

Avatar

Yesterday, the retirees in our 6th Day group at Wellshire came for their monthly program. Holly picked two movies to review, and asked me to do the review for Avatar. i recommended the movie after i saw it in theaters in an earlier blog. However, i didn't say much about it. What follows is what i told 6th Day about Avatar. As i told them, it's not for everyone, but it is phenomenal...

Avatar is first and foremost, a science fiction movie. If space and aliens and futuristic technology are too much for you to swallow, this is probably not your movie. However, if you’re at all open to this genre, this movie is phenomenal in every way. It has easily the most impressive cinematography ever to grace the silver screen. Director, James Cameron, who directed Titanic, is an avid scuba diver and this passion colors every inch of the alien rainforest where the movie takes place. The plants, animals and even the alien people all glow with underwater florescence and variety of color, shape and form that is unparalleled anywhere above the ocean surface on Earth.

Seeing it in 3D is a must. The aerial shots, giant man-made machines, sweeping jungle vistas and variety of alien creatures are stunning. Some of the creatures are like horses or wolves and some resemble giant dragons or pterodactyls. Still others float through the air, luminescent like jellyfish. It’s a breath-taking world.

As deep and rich as the color and imagination of this whole new world is a very deep and powerful storyline. For anyone who has seen Dances with Wolves, this will be a very familiar tale, even though the characters and ending are so radically different. Just like the film, O Brother, Where art Thou, with George Clooney, which was a remake of Homer’s The Odyssey, the story is new and fresh and the characters newly shape the tale, while teaching many of the same lessons. In fact, the lessons so blatantly painted across this movie got it banned in China. Themes of military and mercenary troops forcing natives off their land for highly-demanded natural resources ring all too true for the people of China and Tibet. It has obvious implications in the US in our history as well as modern international policy.

If you can’t check your sense of disbelief at the door, or you have no interest in the fantastical or a film that will make you think, this movie isn’t for you. However, if you’re eager to experience a sense of wonder that a movie may not have awoken in you since you were a child and to be challenged to think about how we treat the people and their beliefs who stand between us and the resources we need to support our lifestyle, this movie will take you on the ride of your life. It’s not for everyone, but everyone can take something away from this movie… other than the 3D glasses.

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