Avatar

I saw Avatar twice over the holiday season, once with my Dad and sister and another time with my Mom. Seems the general viewing populace is enjoying it, as it is poised to become the number one grossing movie of all time. I think my Dad fell asleep but he still says he liked what he saw. My Mom went crazy for it and I think it maybe one of her most favorite movies of all time.

Sci-fi and movie geeks are split. While some find it a science fiction masterpiece others are disappointed in the plot’s lack of originality. The haters have a point. While it is visually stunning the plot is a rehash of the stranger-in-a-strange-land-leads-primitive-natives-against-a-technologically-advanced-invader kind of stuff. It’s been done a million times, but I found that Avatar did it really, really well.

Director, writer, producer James Cameron is a master storyteller. He captures the magic, heroism, sadness, humanity and adventure that allows the viewer to place him or herself right in the middle of the movie. He manipulates the audience’s feelings pulling them to highs and dropping them to lows right along with the movie’s characters.

Cheap and gimmicky? Perhaps, but still enjoyable. After all, a movie, book, television show, whatever doesn’t have to alienate someone with its hipness or tangled intelligence to be fun.

Not only did some sci-fi geeks not like it, Conservatives are in a tizzy over it. According to them, it’s anti-military, anti-business, anti-Catholic, anti-American, anti-human, anti….well, you name it. To them it’s just plain evil. It’s a liberal ideology guide put in place by the godless Cameron.

If that is the case, nearly half of all popular media is bound to upset them. Anyway, I give it two-thumbs up.

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