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It was our anniversary a few days ago (this relationship goes to eleven... years) and we didn't really do much, so we made a night of it this evening, rewatching AVATAR, the first film we saw in the cinema together. It's the most I've enjoyed it since then. (1/21)
The first time we saw it in early 2010 is probably the most I've enjoyed it due to the sheer novelty of seeing that world for the first time, experiencing the visuals and drifting away with the story. The 3D was hit and miss, the only real negative. (2/21)
I seem to be forever wondering why AVATAR became the biggest film of all time, and just amassed more and more derision as the years went by. I still think any "It's just DANCES WITH WOLVES/POCAHONTAS/FERNGULLY in space!" arguments are very weak, and stock. (3/21)
Still, the more I watch it, the less I consider the complaints, and the more I enjoy the story, the visuals, and getting lost in a world of fantasy and twisted reality. Cameron's saying a lot with this film, and I've had a theory about his work for a while. (4/21)
James Cameron's films have all featured some kind of action, and in his earlier films, it's a cool kind of action. In TITANIC and AVATAR, there's action, but it's secondary to a central romantic plot. (5/21)
Maybe some people are just wired differently, but there seems to be some inherent cynicism towards his last two films that still confuses me. Cameron has ALWAYS been a cheesy writer at heart, and always follows a thematic love story. (6/21)
Whether it's the love between a man and woman, a mother and a surrogate daughter, or a young boy and a machine who has been the best analog for a father he's ever had, Cameron is always concerned with how love colours our existence. (7/21)
Now when I say Cameron is a cheesy writer, I don't mean that in a blanket sense. He's an incredible writer who has a great sense of storytelling, forward momentum, pacing and fleshed out characters. But he also learns into earnest moments of cheese. Since the beginning. (8/21)
"I came across time for you, Sarah. I love you. I always have."
On paper, that's an almost excruciating line. And concept. Sometimes though, a great performer, and existing inside an already great movie, cheesy lines can work. (9/21)
On paper, that's an almost excruciating line. And concept. Sometimes though, a great performer, and existing inside an already great movie, cheesy lines can work. (9/21)
Hell, ALIENS is my second favourite film of all time, and I still think the "Mommy!" line at the end is a bit too on the nose. This is how Cameron works though. I see you, Jim. (10/21)
While AVATAR is admittedly derivative, of many other stories and of his own filmography at times too, it never actually feels like a detriment to the film, for me. Because most of your favourite films are the same, some are just better at hiding it. (11/21)
Take STAR WARS, a film that was moulded out of the clay of so many other existing stories and works it cleverly felt very original. At this point in blockbuster cinema history, it's going to be nigh on impossible to create a film that's wholly original. (12/21)
I mean, Harlan Ellison sued Orion over THE TERMINATOR using the story of his OUTER LIMITES episode "SOLDIER" which showed a soldier going back in time to protect a woman from a killer also from the future. And he won. (13/21)
Cameron didn't agree with the Ellison decision, but the fact remains that AVATAR is a damn good film that is unfairly maligned for a very minor issue, at best. And I don't use the term "fact" very often when talking about films! (14/21)
All that to say: I think Cameron has always had an earnest and melodramatic flair to his writing, & I think a lack of a "cool factor" to his recent films, compared to his earlier works, may be a contributing factor to why he's been so heavily criticised in recent decades. (15/21)
And AVATAR isn't perfect, but it does feature a kind of world-building that is almost unmatched. A near 500 page document of Pandora's mythology and science is included on the Blu-ray! Of course I admit it's a world that hasn't really caught on as a powerful fandom. (16/21)
But I respect the gargantuan effort of the film's world and mythology, just as I respect Cameron's decision to focus on the AVATAR series as his magnum opus. If he never makes another film outside of this franchise, I'm totally fine with that. (17/21)
Which is another hill I'll die on, by the way. Not for the first time: the complaints that he could have made so many other films instead is SUCH a weird stance. He's James Cameron, he's amassed such a cache in the industry, he can pick what he wants to do... (18/21)
And guess what, he hasn't picked any other films to direct. Because he doesn't WANT to. He's in the enviable position to be able to follow exactly what his creative expression is, not forced to be a director for hire. And he's made his choice. The AVATAR flag is planted. (19/21)
Where was I... ah yeah. We watched AVATAR tonight! It's great. I've always really liked it, but now I love it, and it's entered my list of true favourites. I could say a lot more but I'll wrap up this ramble... (20/21)
A big, bold, occasionally clumsy (in a good way, actually..) morality play, that makes you want to have your own avatar, to take your own unthinkable journey, to find a profound purpose in life, when you may feel there is none. (21/21)
