I can still remember the day I went to see James Cameron's 'AVATAR'. I think I'd just turned 16. It was one of those defining movie outings. I'd seen J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK on my 13th birthday and now I was going to see Avatar.
Our family tended to stick to age restrictions growing up. My parents were good that way. And I didn't, and I still don't resent that about my childhood. It turned every few years into a coming-of-age experience. Like a Viking Warrior walking through the flames to enter manhood I got to watch certain movies when I was old enough to handle them. Call me old-fashioned, but I think that's the way it's supposed to be done. Too often, I've seen young kids in today's generation, behaving violently, flinging the F-word around like it's everyone's nickname, or using crude innuendos when they speak. And I'm sitting there thinking, 'Man, I didn't know half that kind of language when I was your age.' Am I wrong? Maybe kids today shouldn't have to deal with that kind of sick knowledge.
Anyway... Back to Avatar.
For more information check out the Wiki-link below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)
But basically the film revolves around an ex-marine named Jake Sully who also happens to be a paraplegic. Who better to send to the mythical planet 'Pandora' to inhabit the fully functioning body of a Na'vi alien, known as an Avatar, then this guy right?
What essentially happens is that Jake begins to enjoy his new body so much, not to mention the beautiful Na'vi princess, that he goes rogue and decides to help the Na'vi fight off the human invaders to protect Pandora. The humans, on the other hand, are after a special kind of mineral, worth billions back on earth, which is why they're willing to destroy the Na'vis' sacred home ground. Now Jake must learn, not only to become one of the Na'vi, but also to become their leader if he is to beat this formidable army led by Colonel Miles Quaritch. Basically the story of John Smith and Pocahontas in space. The graphics and CGI, however, are eye-popping, and the world that James Cameron has created is so intricate and astounding that the latest news promises us not one, not two, but three additional chapters to the Pandora saga, to give us and James enough time to explore this paradise.
It makes for an epic. I realised the problem however when I first went to go see Avatar in the cinema.
Like I said, it's too much for too long. Not that I didn't enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, Avatar is freaking amazing! Let me explain:
There are two stories running throughout Avatar, and they are seen in Jake Sully's two conflicting lives. One, in the body of an Avatar, and another in his paraplegic human body. From his wheelchair, Jake witnesses the human's desperate quest for the minerals on Pandora. He offers them insight into the Na'vi tribe, gleaned from his time spent as an Avatar. His loyalties are to earth, and to the other members of his team. But as an Avatar, Jake leads a different life. He learns the ways of Pandora, and of the tribe. He discovers a power and a confidence within himself that he never understood as a human. Most importantly, he falls in love with Neytiri, the beautiful future priestess to the Na'vi tribe.
Neytiri is charged with teaching Jake the ways of her people, so it's not surprising when their relationship soon blossoms into romance. I remember, in the scene where Jake finally confesses his love for Neytiri, as he kissed her, someone in the audience yelled out, "Well it's about time!"
Everyone laughed.
We'd been gawking at glowing tree branches, alien dragons, and tall blue people for the last hour and a half. All we wanted was for the plot to get a move on. We wanted to see the big moment. Because at the end of the day, no matter how many CGI specimens of alien life you throw at the audience, the only thing they really care about are the characters. The heart of the story. We want to see Jake kiss Neytiri, we want to see Jake overcome his fear, we want to see the Colonel being speared with a shaft from his own helicopter, (sorry, spoiler...) and out of that, victory being achieved for the Na'vi tribe.
Am I saying that the director of Avatar failed to create an exciting film? Hardly. I am saying that the characters weren't intriguing enough? Nope. Am I saying that the plot was weak? Not necessarily. What I am saying though is that sometimes a story can be lost in a swamp of CGI.
Here's what Harrison Ford, who will be starring in the new "STAR WARS The Force Awakens" had to say to Time Magazine about CGI:
"Well, we walk the line of a wholly digital green screen movie. We did not do that, there’s a great advantage to building physical sets. Both in spending and they help ensure you’re keeping it to a human scale. I think one of the problems with the CGI is that you can, if you need 100 villains and you’re only a few keystrokes from having 1000, and what the hell, it’s the same price. What happens is you overwhelm the human experience with kinetics and you lose what I refer to as scale. What needs to be preserved is the emotional experience a human being can identify with." - Harrison Ford
http://time.com/4132998/star-wars-the-force-awakens-harrison-ford-prequels/
What do you think? Is CGI truly the future of the movies? Or is there a heart, a core to filmmaking that perhaps we're missing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Have an awesome Wednesday!
-Adino
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