Dances with Thundersmurfs

What do you get when you combine Thundercats with Smurfs with the plot of Dances with Wolves and film it in 3-D? Apparently a billion dollars and a Golden Globe for best motion picture. But is it really worth all the hype and accolades heaped upon it? Is Avatar the greatest movie achievement in film making history? My answer is a resounding no.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the film. Visually its stunning, especially in IMAX 3-D, but besides that it is nothing I haven't seen before. If you've seen any of the Star Wars films, especially the prequels then nothing on the screen is going to make you cream your pants and shout out "SWEET ZOMBIE JEEBUS!!! I've never seen anything like that before!" Hell, the entire last act of the film looks like Cameron was playing a session of HALO. But then again, according to my wife I've become jaded a lifetime of video game playing with their addictive immersive game play.

Then there's the story, filled with cliche's, moustache twirling villains, and unobtanium, by far the dumbest sound MacGuffin I've ever heard of. Everything you've heard about the plot is true. Yes it comes across as humans(IE American military) bad, primitive indigenous peoples(IE Native Americans or any number of primitive cultures) as noble and in harmony with nature. I can't stand the myth of the "noble savage". Sorry if I come across as politically incorrect but native Americans were violent and did not live in harmony with nature. The buffalo population was in decline prior to the arrival of the white man. Life for all stone age tribes, regardless of continent of origin was nasty, brutish, and short. Cameron's noble Na'vi would be no different.

Politics and cliche aside, Cameron does prove to have remarkable vision and the special effects are outstanding. I still think that Avatar is more cartoon then a traditional film and yes I did think of Star Wars at different parts in the film. One scene has an obvious connection to the ways of the force. However, its a breezy two and a half hours that should be seen on the IMAX screen in 3-D. I don't think the movie will be quite as enjoyable at home as it is in the theaters. Well worth the price of admission, but nowhere near the best science fiction film of the year. I'm sorry but I still think District 9 did much more with far less then Cameron's epic of excess.

Keep watching this space.