Mawkish, maybe. But Avatar is a profound, insightful, important film

[CHIMO]

Avatar, James ­Cameron's blockbusting 3D film, is both profoundly silly and profound. It's ­profound because, like most films about aliens, it is a metaphor for contact between different human cultures. But in this case the metaphor is conscious and precise: this is the story of European engagement with the native peoples of the Americas. It's profoundly silly because engineering a happy ending demands a plot so stupid and predictable that it rips the heart out of the film. The fate of the native ­Americans is much closer to the story told in another new film, The Road, in which a remnant population flees in ­terror as it is hunted to extinction.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/11/mawkish-maybe-avatar-profound-important

[Laura902]

1. Avatar is silly for other reasons,

the plot isn't so well put together and the acting is not superb but the graphics are phenomenal and it really does make you want to go out and jump in front of the loggers cutting down the rainforest-at least until reality sets in.

[patrice]

9. Care to be more specific? Details?

[DavidDvorkin]

2. It's sooooo bad

Even the highly touted CGI are dull and unconvincing. And they were the best thing in the movie.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. It doesn't sound like you paid the bucks to see it in IMAX.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. I saw it in 2D

Headache problems, so I skipped 3D.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. AH.

I saw it in IMAX and 3D. I noticed the difference.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. 2D exposes the flaws

in the CGI and the story.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. I don't follow you?

This movie is making money because people are willing to pay the bucks to see it on 3D. For most people, it's their first experience with IMAX and most of them are seeing it on referral of friends. THAT is where all the accolades are coming from. Everyone understands it's a simple plot story. It's an acceptable story line, but what is so new about it is the CGI in 3D. So, if you haven't seen it in its full glory, how can you criticize it?

As I said to someone else, Avatar without it's 3D CGI, is like Peter Pan without never, Never land.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

25. Be glad you skipped the 3D

It looked pretty good when everything was standing still, but once something started moving (especially if it was moving quickly) it turned into a blurry mess.

[bertman]

12. I beg to disagree, David. The creatures, the movement of the dragons, etc., were

stunning. Maybe you should go back and see it when you don't have a headache.

[DavidDvorkin]

19. Sorry, I should have been clearer about the headache

I didn't have one, but I'm prone to them, so I avoid 3D (because of the glasses).

I would have preferred to see it on an IMAX screen and in 3D, but the 3D part will have to wait for some new kind of technology.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. Will Bonine or Dramamine help?

[DavidDvorkin]

24. No, it's not a visual problem directly

Neck and back problems, causing muscle tension.

My doctor referred me to a therapist, but it's not covered by insurance. I went to her for a while, and she did help, back when I had a job. It's not an option now, though.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Understood.

Sorry about your health issues. Hope this year will have better answers for all of us.

[Lint Head]

3. The scene where Sigourney Weaver is wrapped in nothing

but a leafy vine in strategic places kinda took me out of the suspension of reality that I enjoy in these types of movies. It was obvious they didn't want to show certain body parts. Which is kinda silly after showing people being graphically killed. I don't think I have given anything away if you have not seen the movie.

[sui generis]

22. THAT was annoying

it was so out of keeping with the rest of the film I'm left wondering if it wasn't post-processed to manage the rating panel.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. K&R

[Cartoonist]

5. opposition

Any movie that upsets the right is OK with me.

[Fearless]

6. +1!

[patrice]

8. +2

[bluescribbler]

10. +3

[proteus_lives]

13. It was a shitty movie.

A shitty and stolen script, wooden acting, one-dimensional characters.

People are just impressed with the computer tech.

[Recursion]

15. It's "Billy Jack" for the 21st century

And it was just as intolerable to me.

[Daveparts still]

16. A 3-D Movie

with a 1-D plot, Dances with Wolves meets the 60's blacklight poster. As for upsetting the right, all movies upset the right. They were upset by animated dancing peguins and teletubbies.

[Fly by night]

17. Great movie. I've seen it twice, will see it again when I'm in a city with Imax.

No one I've recommended it to has been disappointed. Most have already seen it at least twice also. But then the hubris quotient in my friends is pretty low.

[sui generis]

23. I liked it. If I wanted to see Crime and Punishment in 3D

well, I wouldnta gone to see Avatar.

Yes it was predictable, but it was also a spectacle, and a vanguard, and like a theme park ride you just have to suspend your disposition a little and just enjoy it for the ride.

good grief - all these armchair sophists wanting this to be their raison d'etre - you will never be satisfied with anything or if you do it will be so marginal to the rest your intervening life it will not have been worth hating everything else in between.

Loosen up - jeepers!

[newtothegame]

27. Has JC said it's a metaphor for Europe/America or are we saying this out of political convenience?