In case you didn’t not noticed in the title there, this post has spoilers. And, in case you do not know what spoilers are, its when you write about something that happens in a film, book, whatever. Some people believe that this “spoils” the story for them. So, if you don’t like spoilers, do not read past this point. Oh, also, this post was not proofread. 
SPOILERS
The movie was pretty good. I am both excited to see another original science fiction movie this year, and disappointed that it used one of my ideas (humans as the evil invaders). I am sure may people are going to dissuaded by the length of the film (161 minutes), but it really doesn’t feel that long. And, the length allowed for a proper exposition.
Unfortunately, as you probably know from all the ads for the movie (vanberge has informed me that there are many of them) that the movie has a strong CGI look. This is pretty consistent throughout the entire film. I would say it looks kind of like the next generation of the visuals used in Final Fantasy the Spirit(s) Within.
Initially, the visuals are quite impressive. And, its is clear that a lot of effort and planning went into making this project. The awe of the visuals wears off pretty quickly. After you are done being distracted by all the “purdy colors” you start to get to the core mechanics of the film. At its core, the film is pretty humdrum. It has many formulaic elements, such as the “tough” old mercenary. The money driven corporate director. The scientist without any respect for “jar heads.” The star crossed lovers, etc, etc, etc… So, despite being an original idea, there is not a whole lot about it that is original.
There are also some weird mixed messages in the film. Some people have been talking about topics of imperialism, and biodiversity. However, these topics are only addressed in the most superficial sense. Sure, you have the more advanced race coming in to dominate the backwards civilization. However this whole theme breaks down in the end when the primitive tribal people win.
That’s right. The blue people, with bows and arrows defeat mechanized infantry, air ships, and all kinds of things. It shatters the suspensions of the disbelief for the film. I do not care if you are supposed to be rooting for the blue people, they would have been crushed, without question.
However, I will concede the that tactics the humans used were incredibly stupid. I guess in this new space age of 2154 the human race has forgotten rocket science. Seems to me that it would made a lot more sense to bombard the stick people with artillery/missiles from a safe distance. Instead, they decided to fly in low so they were completely vulnerable. And, yes I remember in the film when they tried to explain this all away with “magical” interference from whatever. But, you don’t need a GPS / laser guided missile. Lets use math people.
The whole romance angle of the film didn’t do anything for me. I suppose it was pretty convenient that they happened upon a planet with a humanoid race that has such similar social norms as humanity. Granted, they are animist beliefs, but there are humans who believe in that crap. I did not really relate to the transformation of the main character. He seemed to have developed some kind of dissociative disorder, and allowed his fantasy world to supersede reality. Unfortunately, this problem had dire consequences.
Sure, he saved hundreds of sentient life forms, but I cannot even imagine the economic harm that was wrought when the company was forced to leave the planet. After loosing access to such a rich supply of a valuable resource must have sent their stock into a downward spiral. Think of the poor investors!
Granted the way the company handled the situation was also flawed. The Na’vi (blue people) just happened to have built an entire tribe over top of a huge mineral deposit. They should have known better, perhaps if they were so dedicated to living like savages they could have done something about it.
Speaking of savages…the Na’vi worship some kind of organic neural network. This network allows them to store and retrieve memories at certain data port trees. It seems to me that if you were able to build such a wealth of generational knowledge you would be able to develop a pretty advanced civilization. Instead the system just seems to re-enforce their ignorance.
I found myself quite conflicted during the final battle. I wanted to root for the humans, since I am a human. But, the movie tried hard to make the humans unlikeable, and the Na’vi the scrappy underdogs. So, I ended up just watching the sequence on the screen wondering if the unintelligent humans, or the valiant savages were going to win the day, not caring one way or the other.
Ultimately, the movie had an entirely too saccharine sweet ending. Their only real loses were the annoying scientist that at one time hated Jake Sully, and then liked him later one without any on screen explanation why. And, the pilot played by the dreadful Michelle Rodriguez, so once again no big loss.
There is a big “happy ending” sequence, where the “hero” has his human body killed, and all his memories transferred into his Avatar. I guess this is good because it means he doesn’t need to use the machines to connect to the Avatar anymore. And, he doesn’t have to go back to his human life that he has abandoned. Unfortunately, all he had to do was die to achieve the goal. Lovely.
His teacher, become lover survived. And, the once tribal leader in waiting was killed in the battle with the humans, so that took care of a nasty issue, since he was supposed to mate with Neytiri before Jake cockblocked him. The company personnel were forced to the leave the planet, but if they’re smart they would just come back with some orbital payloads and wipe out the Na’vi. But, they proved without a doubt in this film that they are not smart.
While I think the film was pretty average, I do support original science fiction, and I do think the visuals are worth seeing on the big screen, so I am going to give this movie a 2. Feel free to see it.
Mind of the Market (2009)
The first half of this book took me 50 weeks to read, the second half took 2 days. Hurray for quickly finishing all unfinished books in time to make a clean slate for New Years.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the book, here’s a brief overview from Publishers Weekly:
“Shermer (The Science of Good and Evil), columnist for Scientific American and publisher of Skeptic magazine, provides an in-depth examination of evolutionary economics. Using fascinating examples—from monkeys that balk at unfair distribution of rewards after completing a task to humans who feel cheated when offered $10 of free money if a partner is given $90—Shermer explores the evolutionary roots of our sense of fairness and justice, and shows how this rationale extends to the market. Drawing upon his expertise as a scientist and the works of noted economists, Shermer argues convincingly that human beings are not exclusively self-centered, the market itself is moral, and modern economies are founded on our virtuous nature. He explores how we mind our money, the value of virtue, why money can’t buy happiness and whether we are really free to make choices. Though dense in places, this book offers much insight into human behavior and rationales regarding money and fairness and will be of interest to serious readers of science or business. (Jan.)“ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The book was actually pretty good. The reason that I originally put it down was that it started to drift away from straight economic theory into evolutionary biology, and social science. And, while those things are related they are not nearly as interesting. I give the book a 2 (above average).