Just saw Avatar

[Pidesco]

You seen either? In Fern Gully, the humans were misguided, not evil (and not just the main guy), and there was one or two mischievous/mean (though admittedly not evil) fairies. The only thing evil in the whole movie was Hexxus - the spirit of evil. You'd kind of expect him to be pure evil.

 

In Avatar, Quaritch was very fatherly to his men and it seemed like he was a minor grey character until halfway through when they flipped his place with the sociopathic corporate executive. Likewise, the female pilot seemed like she'd done her fair share of mindlessly following Quaritch's orders and enjoying it - essentially oppressing the natives along with the rest till she had her 'redemption moment' at the tree.

 

It's not like there's massive depth to this in either movie, but I wouldn't call it black and white.

 

 

Avatar also has the character depth of a kids cartoon, so I thought Ferngully would be a good point of comparison. Almost everyone is either pure good or pure evil with no nuance to them.

 

For emphasis. Also, I noted earlier in the thread the problems with Quaritch's character development.

 

FernGully, I saw many, many years ago, so I don't really remember it.

[Blarghagh]

Let's not forget that the greedy corporate shill Parker repeatedly shows remorse, doubt and seems unwilling to kill (even giving the good guys several chances to prevent it) despite his belief that the blue people are just 'monkeys' and seemingly only does it because it's his job and he feels it HAS to be done. Avatar is not nearly as black and white as you make it out to be. There are points of view for characters in this film that many people throughout history have had, and you seem to be ignoring them because they are in the role of 'villain' and you're clamping on to that so you can make your wrongful likeness to cartoons.

 

I mean, I'm not saying that there is a lot of hidden depth in this film. It's not very deep. But saying it's a cartoon is just a gross exaggeration. This is not the hero adventurer against the evil lich and his skeleton army.

[Pidesco]

I'm pretty sure Parker doesn't show remorse or doubt repeatedly. He shows remorse precisely one time in the entire movie, when someone mentions children. That's it. And it's the last time we hear of the character.

 

He's a one note character who flip flops when the plot requires it.

[Gorgon]

They are practically all cardboard cutouts. Worthington has 2 or 3 scenes where he actually gets to act, and they aren't bad. It's just not a whole lot for 2 and a half hours.

[Blarghagh]

I'm pretty sure Parker doesn't show remorse or doubt repeatedly. He shows remorse precisely one time in the entire movie, when someone mentions children. That's it. And it's the last time we hear of the character.

 

He's a one note character who flip flops when the plot requires it.

 

He looked pretty remorseful when the hometree was falling. And despite that, he's the one that's trying to get the scientists to find a diplomatic solution in the first place.

Edited January 16, 2010 by TrueNeutral

[Hurlshort]

I don't think they really had the time to develop those characters, given everything else that was going on. It was already a pretty long movie.

[Pidesco]

These aren't just minor characters, they are the main antagonists. If they didn't make time in the script to give the main antagonists a bit of depth, then it's a pretty flawed script.

[Calax]

These aren't just minor characters, they are the main antagonists. If they didn't make time in the script to give the main antagonists a bit of depth, then it's a pretty flawed script.

They spent to much time on the "good" guys and their society to actually allow any of the "bad" guys other than the "It's just a job" **** blackhearted merc of death to have a real personality.

 

Honestly, it felt less like they were making a demon of the character and more demonizing the entire apparatus that allowed this mining complex to go up in the first place.

[Blarghagh]

Which, although not very interesting, was effective enough in the context of the movie, I think.

[Raithe]

I did see something where the actor who played Colonel Q said roughly that he was playing him as a "soldier with a good heart, who'd just been sent through too many bad wars and had his soul slowly destroyed."

Which was part of the whole "I'm here to keep my guys alive and do the job. Frack everything/everyone else."

[Walsingham]

What are they mining, anyway? I bet it's a power source. I also bet they don't show how that power source saved the Earth from global warming.

 

Sod the aliens.

 

Be pure! Be vigilant! Behave!

 

[Calax]

What are they mining, anyway? I bet it's a power source. I also bet they don't show how that power source saved the Earth from global warming.

 

Sod the aliens.

 

Be pure! Be vigilant! Behave!

 

a metal that makes the world move apparently... literally called unobtainium

[Oner]

This seems to be awesome. What is this?

[Gfted1]

^Well, the real Tomas De Torquemada was the torture chief of the Spanish Inquisition. Dunno what comic that is.

[Hiro Protagonist]

It looks like the main villian Torquemada from Nemesis the Warlock published in the comic 2000AD.

[Humodour]

No surprise, Avatar has been banned in China because it "might cause civil unrest".

[Shryke]

was very pretty but nothing amazing or new story-wise

 

had to chuckle at the whole "we'll bomb the tree by... shoving a big crate of explosives out the back of the plane..."

and you gotta feel sorry for the main dude's first dragon thingy - he fully ditches it for a bigger better model

 

enjoyable enough but i don't think i'd bother to go see it again

[Hiro Protagonist]

Taiwan man dies after seeing Avatar. I'd feel a bit cheated not knowing how the movie ends.

[Gorgon]

These stories create themselves. Do you think this would have been news if he had died after watching anything else. There is some kind of giant conspiracy afoot to make Avatar into a phenomenon rather than your standard effects driven blockbuster.

[Blarghagh]

To turn Avatar into some phenomenon? The only reason this got into the news is because Avatar is already a phenomenon.

Edited January 20, 2010 by TrueNeutral

[Gorgon]

Yes, the conspiracy has been successful and now it won't go away. Not untill we get so fed up we puke at the mere mention. Like Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, Crockodile Dundee, Episode One for a more recent example.

[Pidesco]

Crocodile Dundee is awesome. Awesome!

[Humodour]

There is some kind of giant conspiracy afoot to make Avatar into a phenomenon rather than your standard effects driven blockbuster.

 

Yeah, that's definitely it. A conspiracy.

[Gfted1]

Crocodile Dundee is awesome. Awesome!

 

"Thats not a knife, THIS is a knife."

[Blarghagh]

Yes, the conspiracy has been successful and now it won't go away. Not untill we get so fed up we puke at the mere mention. Like Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, Crockodile Dundee, Episode One for a more recent example.

 

"Cowabunga dude!"