James Cameron has dropped off the Hollywood map and spent the last few years trying to reinvent the cinema experience. His final result was a heartwarming, derivative, anti-Imperialist, environmental propaganda pushing reboot of the 1992 children’s film Ferngully.
Avatar is visually stunning. All of the physical scenes were shot in high definition digital 3D and the CGI scenes are painstakingly realistic and jaw-droppingly beautiful. Little things, like sparks of a fire or cigarette smoke seem to waft into your face, and giant army robots and blue people seem to burst out of the screen. Cameron has taken computer graphics and 3d film making to it’s greatest extreme.
I wish that were enough to justify its 2:40 running time. The story was so derivate it hurt. Giant robot suits stolen from Aliens, a cat-people love story hurting for an Elton John sound track, and the speech from Braveheart. Throw it a dash of white guilt and a smidge of apocalyptic environmentalism and you’ve got yourself a box office hit.
Besides representing a high point for visuals and a low-point for storytelling, Avatar also shows how deep eastern mysticism has embedded itself in America. More than any other mainstream offering, it offers a clear teaching of pagan Gaia worship.
I went hoping to partake in a cultural moment like Star Wars or the Matrix. The jury is still out as to whether or not I got what I hoped for.
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