Last night we went and saw Avatar. This is the most beautiful movie any of us have seen in ages; it’s a completely magical experience. The creation of a world so gorgeous and inviting even as it is dangerous sucks one in. It’s like one of those BBC nature documentaries but about something much better. Even once you get beyond the sensory overload of this universe one enters a simple story, that’s still compelling. It’s a mark of the greatness of the film making that even though we dont naturally find 10 foot tall blue aliens attractive, by the end of the movie they are attractive. We are made to believe.
The story itself is believable. It shows two groups who have little understanding of one another. The humans have great technology, but generally not enough curiosity to get beyond their assumptions. And their ignorance of this world turns into a blind fear which in turn begets hate and violence. A lot of this part of the story is about the loss of moral compass, and what it does to otherwise fairly decent people. The real kink in the story is that superficially it feels like cowboys and indians – and that’s certainly what the humans in the story believe – except that where in real life the indians were hopelessly outmatched by the white man, in fact these folks discover only very late in the story that their basic assumptions are completely wrong – that in fact what they view as quaint and simple is actually part of something vastly more complex, threatening and ultimately overpowering.
All this said, it’s a very feel good movie – you know the boy has to get the girl, and it’s all so pretty to look at. But the combination of eye candy, romance and some real thoughts make into a very satisfying experience. We all said we wanted to see it again, that’s what an intense experience it was for us, and that’s not something any of us say very often.
So do yourself a favor and go see it!
