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Critic Review - East Bay Express

By the time the big battle rolls around in the last quarter we've had enough of Pandora and the Na'Vi and Avatar, and are ready to take another five-year vacation from James Cameron.

December 23, 2009 Full Review Source: East Bay Express | Comments (137)
East Bay Express

Comments

john i.

john ives

Why is this person in such a hurry to leave Pandora and get back to their trailer park ?

Dec 23 - 04:19 PM

Howard X.

Marvin Tibs

Hahaha, some of the people commenting on this review are incredible. If you're so sensitive to a negative review of a film that you have to immediately launch into a misogynistic tirade against the critic then you really have issues.

Dec 23 - 04:39 PM

Mr. Positive

. .

"It's doubtful that Avatar, special effects and saturation ad campaign notwithstanding, will ever sell as many tickets as Cameron's kingmaker, Titanic."

Uhm, Avatar just passed the 300 million mark on the global market. In one week! It's reported that it's sold out around the world for the next week already. This review should be thrown out for ignorance (and I'm saying all this as being lukewarm good on the movie as a whole 7/10).

Dec 23 - 04:45 PM

tylerdurden24

alexis solis

its a decent movie..... although it pales in comparison to T2 and Aliens.

Dec 23 - 05:34 PM

Perry L.

Perry Lloyd

It is obnoxious and presumptuous of you to generalize your opinion to the rest of us. It certainly was not MINE.

Dec 23 - 09:16 PM

Valmordas

Val Mordas

This critic is a huge d-bag comparable in size to the Hindenburg.

Dec 23 - 11:07 PM

coolalexhorowitz

Alejandro Horowitz

Are you completely whack! I agree! Stick to Twilight why don't you.

Dec 23 - 11:13 PM

A G.

A George

I think a real critic has to really enjoy movies of all types!! to be a good judge of all genras. I mean it helps to be more objective!

Dec 23 - 11:16 PM

Jason G.

Jason Grant

A woman who does not like Sci-Fi and thus cannot give a rational review of a movie. Color me suprised. And don't use "we". You don't speak for the rest of us.

Dec 24 - 01:55 AM

Rob H.

Rob H

I saw the movie for the 2nd time in IMAX last night (once again a sold out show.) the movie ended with Jake Sully opening his eyes as a Na'vi and bamm the credits. Immediately after the entire theater clapped their hands in applause. This was the same on Sat. night when I saw it the first time.

I read this whole trail and there are some comments that ring... someone said WONDER... I was constantly in "wonder" of the fantastic scenery, the adventure, the story (I really don't get why people don't think there is one) and the brewing attraction to the female Na'vi. The idea of all the life interconnecting on the planet was very refreshing and the linking between the Na'vi and the creatures also was a interesting concept. I enjoyed every aspect of this movie. If the reviewer here didn't like it so be it. I feel bad for her. Last night my friends wife just shrugged when I asked her how she liked it. Maybe women just don't get it. ;)

Both times I left dreaming of Pandora and wishing I could ride one of those creatures in the sky. This was the first time in ages that I felt giddy like a child leaving a theater.

I feel bad for the folks who lose that connection in themselves to feel the adventurous wonder that a movie like this hands out at every turn. A

Dec 24 - 05:18 AM

Lukemitch25

Luke M

Yeah, Steven. I've been noticing that too. Why are so many of these female critics almost seem offended by Avatar? The film features a great, romantic and touching love story. The film features one of the greatest female characters I've ever seen on the screen. And, it's beautiful, through and through. For Kelly here to say we need another five years vacations from James Cameron almost sounds biased.

Dec 24 - 06:44 AM

dj Mark

Mark Marquis

Five year break huh? You wish.

Dec 24 - 10:21 AM

chris a.

chris anthony

this story could have been told in 45 minutes....it was so cliche every aspect of the movie was borrowed from another film, the matrix like connection to the avatars, that stupid standing robot that the george bush character climbed into, its been in a dozen other movies dating back to the 70's and every year since...that one idiot yells "get some" three times in the movie which is stolen from full metal jacket, cameron basically plagerized this entire movie right down to his shallow messages...

at least with George Lucas he creates a world and technology we haven't seen before but every piece of technology depicted in this movie has been seen before....

and before you fanatics all go off into the deep end, NAME ONE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY depicted in this movie that hasnt been seen before??? better yet name one thing period that hasnt been seen before? and dont say riding on the backs of a flying creature because thats been done, just because these graphics are better (and they should be for the most expensive movie ever made...)

all this movie was is an exercise in CGI to the tune of half a billion dollars by the time it was all done, without a competent script to ground it...

and lastly, you idiots that keep saying derogatory things about a females ability to review a movie, im yet to see a single valid point from any of you regarding why this was a good movie, and im talking objective reasons like things actually contained in the movie, not because you live in a fantasy world and wish you lived there...saying something like "its the best movie every and your're a moron" really doesnt count...


Dec 24 - 11:58 AM

dodgerblue

Phil McGroin

Chris a....name one piece of technology in star wars that had never been seen before.

Dec 26 - 11:35 AM

chris a.

chris anthony

in star wars? EVERYTHING, light saber never seen before, the x-wing fighters, r2d2, etc, and the movie making techniques bak then were NEW, never done, especially when it came to empire strikes back which was made for 1/20 of the budget of this movie...

avatar had all reused tech from previous movies, even if they were borrowed from earlier cameron movies, means he has a right to use them, but doesnt make them new. And not every movie needs to have all new technology, but everyone keeps saying how groundbreaking this movie avatar was, it wasnt at all, it was just the next step in evolution of the technology previously created by LUCAS, CAMERON and SPIELBERG of the past 20 years, and at 300 million it better be the best of em all because that budget is as much as ALL the the original star wars put together WITH aliens WITH terminator, and probably even with T2....

Dec 26 - 11:47 AM

Adam H.

Adam Hanafi

Chris...

The fact that you think the technology, as in literally the technology, displayed in a movie defines how good it is (....what?) makes your review completely dismissible altogether. Unbelievable.

If you want me to name one thing new, that's fine...PANDORA. THE NA'VI. That way they bond with the creatures, the home tree, etc....

UNDERSTAND?





It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a COMPLETELY original story with nothing borrowed from one thing or another.

Those of you who believe this are completely ignorant, and I begin to question your actual intelligence. What did you expect to see exactly? Why would you even see a movie if you had absolutely no idea about the plot?

In Titanic, what did you expect to happen in the end? Does the fact that you know the ending and how it is `predictable` ruin the movie for you?


If you found no entertainment in this movie, if you found nothing exciting or at least slightly interesting to the point where you call it garbage, what kind of imagination do you have? How can you enjoy any movie in any sense at all?

..and WHY do people HATE this movie because of some little quirks here and there, like him yelling `get some!`. I am totally and completely confused.

The story (invasion of a foreign species by humans over something valuable) is not completely new, or it would be utter trash. Star wars, Star Trek, Galaxy Quest can be called the same movie by the way some of you people replying. It`s HOW! HOOOOW! the story is carried out that makes this such a unique and special movie; the detail and characters involved, the emotional value it gives to those who appreciate what James Cameron has created - is truly magical.

Appreciate it for what it is, don`t try and hate it because it involved war like so many movies do. The story was great, a movie that entertained me in every single imaginable way.

Oh, yeah, and it`s visually great, too. Not that this is the most important factor at all, because it is not. It`s only what pushes it from an incredible movie to an incredible and incredibly beautifully-looking movie.

Everybody who has called it utter trash and the worst movie of the year... Go watch it again, and this time, really watch it.

Dec 28 - 09:16 PM

chris a.

chris anthony

Adam, my comment regarding the technology on screen or behind both, is in response to the many people i hear and see saying how this movie ws so unique and is going to change filmmaking forever, the CGI was the best so far, yes, and it was the most expensive so why wouldnt it be? if steven spielberg spends a billion dollars two years from now and goes into production with a cgi movie, wouldnt you expect the CGI to be better because he had twice the budget? so again, what was so groundbreaking here?

its not that the story here was not original, who cares about that, its that it was so poorly written, the dialogue was atrocious, imagine if you will having to read a 120 page version of this screenplay, and compare that to a 120 page version of the last samurai...a similar story, dont you think the last samurai would be much better written, keeping in mind when you read a screenplay you get mostly dialogue with little scene descriptions.....

cameron had 300 million, he couldve hired someone to fix or button up the screenplay while he worked on the fx, the fact that he didnt is arrogant....not to mention his messages shallow....i love sci fi, loved empire strikes back, loved minority report, loved aliens, terminator, etc....ALL much superior movies in dialogue and story, regardless of originality....

either way, to each his own, i still think this movie blows over all because it came up short to me...so many people say the movie lacked a great story or dialogue but then give it 100% which is impossible, if it was 100% it would have to have everything, not just a kick *** fantasy world, which i feel was ruined by making shallow references to life on earth, his portrayal of marines was insulting too, at a time while they are still in iraq fighting a war that should never have happened, we get it cameron, but they are there and to portray them as these murdering idiots was insulting...

have a good one bro...i still say this movie blows


Dec 28 - 11:08 PM

chris a.

chris anthony

one more thing to what you said to me, YES, i stand by that comment, it would have been nice to see some NEW on screen technology depicted in the most expensive movie ever made....cameron did nothing but reference the same technologies used over the last 20 years in sci fi....when i watch big budget sci fi, i sort have come to expect some technology revelations real or otherwise, and its been sort of a staple of the sci fi genre to show the audience technology that someday will be, like the old preoverbial flying car, teleporter, etc....spielberg, lucas, and even cameron have all shown us some before, why didnt we get any this time...

i agree with one thing you said thoug, the connectivity between the hair and the tree and the creatures was pretty cool, based on native american philosophy im sure, but that was about the only depicted that i found interesting...

Dec 28 - 11:21 PM

deadsurfkiss

Cory P.

1) I find it odd when week-old crappy reviews get retracted, then re-submitted to appear on the front page of reviews. Juuust maybeee that will dent the 600 million dollar approval rating LOL! Go Kelly!

2) People who talk about poorly written stories and dialogue should first learn how to spell :)

Dec 29 - 12:26 AM

chris a.

chris anthony

deadsurf-

1) i have no idea what you are trying to say

2) spell? dont mistake typos when typing from a handheld device for lack of grammatical education amd writing skills, please mistake lack of caring about spelling in a movie blog room to mean i dont give a **** eithet

hey johnny lydon- are you talking to me? lol if you were, transformers 2 raked in 800 mil, avatar cost about 300 mil to make, when all said and done itll never catch district 9 per capita profit margin...whats your point? still doesnt let us know what YOU liked about the movie? or do you like that it grossed 600 mil worldwide?

Dec 29 - 08:20 AM

J W.

J W

Avatar brought back some of the magic I felt when watching other great movies for the first time like Star Wars.

I know at least 8 friends who rewatched Avatar, and quite a few who plan to so. I think the return journey part has already been fulfilled for some.

Not sure how you know how the Na'vi had sex cause it was never really shown...

Like every other movie, there are people who feel a sense of magic when you see it and others that don't. It's happens, I guess in this case to the 20% who don't really get it.

Dec 24 - 05:21 PM

CriticsCritic

Rafael Rivera

Sorry Kelly but I watched the movie twice in 3D and am thinking take my nephew too. Thats how much I loved Pandora and How I appreciated it your not very appreciated review and view of the movie. I hope I see more worlds like Pandora by other directors or maybe an Avatar sequel.

Dec 24 - 11:21 PM

CriticsCritic

Rafael Rivera

Chris watch the making of the movie and is going to answer your questions!!!!! The way the actors interacted with the Pandora World was something people never seen before (They look like real actorts all the time updated by CGI of course but you knew they were real actors playing it). The emotions of the characters were awesome and not dead like all CGI animated movies. The camera JC used to get close to the action inside the studio was used before? I don't think so.

Dec 25 - 06:58 AM

chris a.

chris anthony

hey Rafeal, i agree the movie was a marvel in technology MAKING it, but non of that was contained on the screen beyond the best CGI graphics (Again, something that was expected given the enormous budget). even by your own suggestion to me, i would have to watch the "making of the movie" to see something new, it wasnt contained in the screen and story. The effects were good but nothing that hadnt been shown before, just because they are an improvement on the effects created by LUCAS and even JAMES CAMERON in the PAST, doesn't make them new now....and i did like the visuals, what i couldnt get past was the cheesy script...

Dec 26 - 11:41 AM

Ronald T.

Ronald Tan

Arturo, that is entirely wrong. When I first watch Star Wars in 1977, I didn't need the twist in the story to follow it up to see Darth Vader as Luke's father in the Empire Strikes Back!

Dec 25 - 08:24 PM

Ben S.

Ben Stoffel

By the time the big battle rolled around, I was ready for another 3 hour tour of Pandora. Not really sure what movie you were watching, but this is vastly entertaining, which to my understanding, is the general point of movies, especially movies like this.

I found myself caring about the characters by the time it was all said and done, as did most other people that I've spoken to who have seen the movie.

I will say one thing about your review though, at least you paid attention enough to know that the year is 2154, unlike all the other negative reviews who say its "sometime in the future". Everything else about your review though, pretty dismissable.

Dec 25 - 09:06 PM

Frank C.

Frank Calliendo

I liked the movie, but also found this review to be somewhat interesting. Give it a tumble.

rjmoeller.com/2009/12/avatar-white-imperialistic-capitalists-ruin-everything/

Dec 25 - 11:41 PM

Ashleigh T.

Ashleigh Thomsen

I loved this movie and don't understand how people can think its so unoriginal. I found it facinating how it seemed to be part action movie and part documentry of the Na'vi.

In less than 3 hours James Cameron was able to take me from initial skeptisim of how a movie about blue people would really work, to understanding and caring about an alien lifestyle and culture to the point where I felt like crying when their home was destroyed, and when their leader died, and waited on the edge of my seat to know that everything would be ok after the big battle started (yes it was predictable it would be ok but I need confirmation).

I really don't understand people's gripes with the plot formula. Yes the basic plot has been done before, but most have, if not in movies than in books and plays. What could have been changed about the plot that could have made the movie better? I can't think of anything that could be taken out or added in that wouldn't have had a negative effect on the balance of the movie.

Dec 26 - 04:47 PM

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