January 1, 2010 12:13 AM
Avatar - brief review
Brief because there's really not much to say.
My kids took me to see Avatar Tuesday night. And btw, you know you've turned a corner in parenting when your children are taking you to movies rather than the other way around - although Tripp and I are still in the middle, taking the younger kids and being taken by the older ones.
In 3D, Avatar was pretty incredible.
Plot was thin and cliche - Sophia said Pocahantas, Matt said Ferngully - but the new technology was beyond anything you could have dreamed. As Matt pointed out to me later, the scene at the end where they blended the John Smith/Pocahantas figures - a real person with a CGI - was flawless. So flawless that I never noticed until he mentioned it.
It was way too long, and yet the breakthrough technology kept me hooked the entire time.
Bottom line:
- Cliche-ridden plot, characters, story development.
- Laced with liberal bias.
- Strongly anti-military.
- Ridiculously New-Age - the silly religious rituals reminded me of the irony of "sophisticated" thinkers who scoff at Christian religious practices yet take this stuff so seriously.
But visuals powerful enough to keep you interested in watching through almost three hours.
Comments
I heard the same from my kids/husband. It's not my kind of movie (so few are), and we are also at the middle stage of parenting, although, mercifully, nearing the end--still have younger kids who we take, and have older kids, who either take or accompany us. A married daughter said that the special effects were stunning, and while it was worth seeing, it was pagan in its world view. My husband took a younger son and daughter, and my 16-year-old son wrote on his Facebook that the "graphics were excellent, incredibly long, no storyline whatsoever..." His friend responded that without 3D, he might have fallen asleep--like the guy who was snoring in front of him.
Posted by: Cathy | January 1, 2010 1:13 PM
Barbara, I agree with you completely. Very pretty visuals, bad plot. In fact, several of my friends rooted for the military.
[Thanks - that reminded me of a couple things I needed to add to my brief comments. The anti-military subtext was obnoxious,]
Posted by: Courageous Grace | January 1, 2010 4:02 PM
My kids pointed out to me that the "military" figures were corporate mercenaries not military and that the true military would not operate this way. Pretty perceptive nuance, imo.
Posted by: devo101 | January 13, 2010 11:48 AM
Barbara, or anyone else who has seen it, what would you say the age would be for this movie? My brother and my Dad are insisting it would be fine for my 9, almost 10 year old. Considering it is PG-13 I would assume it is not. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks!
Posted by: Donna | January 13, 2010 8:39 PM
