Avatar Movie Stuns and Mocks

Just home from watching Avatar. What an awesome movie. There's no denying the quality of the CGI work rendered. Outstanding doesn't even come close. My friend said that there were moments when he couldn't tell CGI from the real thing. That's a statement in testimony to what everyone else is raving about. The storyline was good too. Man join mission to replace brother, man goes undercover to figure out the enemy, man gets 'Stockholm Syndrome' and defects to the enemy side. Well that's the simplified jist without giving too much away. Sort of like Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai. To think that this film took James Cameron 14 years to make because the technology to fulfill his vision wasn't around after the Titanic also lends weight to the quality of the visual experience one is treated to. The movie is set is 2153 where laptops and displays are way cooler, just as we imagined. Stunning lah, and in some cases, jaw dropping mind boggling.

The deeper, more interesting plot of a mission to mine an obscenely priced mineral in a faraway planet with the support of the US military simply aches for parallels drawn to what we see in the world today. Some phrases used in the film that echoed today's situation for the US military were "shock and awe" and "pre-emptive strike". I made a scoffing sound when these phrases were said out, and I am sure they struck a familiar nerve with some of the audience. The idea of oppressive colonialism for plunder is so 1800s and yet James Cameron chose to extend this theme to the next century. Perhaps he's thinking we'd never grow up as a human race and seek to replay our sins on another planetary civilization. And the US firepower to outgun and outrun simply reflects the world situation too. There was a scene with a flame thrower used in the lush forest that reminded me of movies made of the Vietnam war. The idea of corporate might and right backed up with killing machines just sickens me. But it's a good idea put on film to warn folks about the dangers to letting this madness for money get into our heads.

Good movie. People should think about what all those pretty scenes mean too.