Sunday, January 6, 2013

Avatar (2009)

♥♥♥♥♥ • PG-13 • 162m • NetflixIMDB
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Not exactly sure why it took me so long to see this. The title does bother me as it's the moniker of the protagonist in the Ulitma series from the fourth onward. And it conflicts with Nikelodeon's amazing animated series (not Shyamalan's failure). Naming aside, definitely a breathtaking movie.

Could only come up with two issues I had with it. First it was completely transparent. As each character is introduced you know exactly their role and ultimately what they'll do within five minutes of meeting them. The major plot points are known within ten minutes of the film. Meh. And the second was the blatant activism. While I'm sure it grated on any “compassionate conservatives” that watched, which is a plus, the heavy-handed allegory was cloying.

Those two sticking points aside I couldn't deny the full 5 ♥s. The world was richly imagined—from the geography to the flora and fauna to the Omaticaya. The technology was sufficiently advanced/believable but not in the way of the story. Pacing, dialogue, lighting, costume and production elements were all spot-on. And what glorious casting. I mean really…Lt. Ripley mixing it up with aliens again!

“It is hard to fill a cup which is already full.” — Mo'at, 46m

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