Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Avatar (2009) - Cameron's simplistic action-adventure wins with visuals

9/06/2013

Avatar (2009) - Cameron's simplistic action-adventure wins with visuals

♥♥♥♥

+ Most Profitable Movie of the Decade: 805.16 mil. $ range
+ Best 3D Movie of the Year + Best Adventure Movie of the Year + Best Blockbuster of the Year (2,787.9 mil. $ gross) + Most Profitable Movie of the Year (minimum 805.16 mil. $)

The visual wonders of James Cameron's Avatar are teased on this exciting poster for the film

A disabled Marine gets torn between the duties of his job and his experiences with the unusual Na'vi creatures of the wondrous moon planet Pandora, where the military are working to secure a natural resource.

Avatar is written and directed by Ontarian master filmmaker James Cameron (Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)).

It is a 3D action-adventure spectacle that overwhelms with its delicious CGI-created visuals, colors, environments, photography (by Mauro Fiore (Tears of the Sun (2003))) and thundering, huge orchestral score (by James Horner (Flightplan (2005))). The avatar story has eerie co-meanings a decade later, as modern life lived more via digital avatars in games and virtual realities are now no longer a distant future but life for some people, (which has no relation to the spiritual avatar existence seen in the film here.)

Giovanni Ribisi (Heaven (2002)) is great as the corporate douche villain exploiter of the magical Pandora world. Apart from him the cast comes across a bit lackluster, with Sam Worthington (The Great Raid (2005)) lacking some energy and charisma in the lead, which also has him narrate throughout the film. The other stars don't fault, but Avatar's story is just too tiringly simplistic to allow them to shine dramatically: There's the evil, drab, culturally poor, Western, capitalistic-military complex run by white guys Ribisi and Stephen Lang (The Nut Job (2014)); and then there are the ethnic-native American-like non-Westerners, who respect nature and have spiritual insight and a colorful culture. The woman scientist (Sigourney Weaver (The Girl in the Park (2007))), the woman in the military (Michelle Rodriguez (Machete (2010))) and the Na'vi woman (Zoe Saldana (Colombiana (2011))) are all inherently good; men are more often often bad, especially the white ones. It is the politically correct Hollywood worldview to a nauseating fault.

- Unfair? Not really. Avatar presents a kid movie-tried simplicity for grown-ups, and if it wasn't tiresome the first or second time you saw it, it is destined to be the third time. Cameron's stories had more nuance and intelligence in Terminator (1984, 1991) and Titanic (1997). Nevertheless Avatar is astonishing in terms of visuals and effects, proving perhaps mainly that many wonders can be accomplished with boundless capital.

Related posts:

James Cameron: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Aliens (1986) or, Alien War

If you forgot what it was all about, see the amazing images of Avatar in its trailer here

Cost: 237 - 310 mil. $ (different accounts)
Box office: 2,787.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned at least 8.99 times the cost)
[Avatar premiered 10 December (London, United Kingdom) and runs 161 minutes. Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for Avatar in 1994, but the film only came into active development 12 years later. Shooting took place in Hawaii, California, including Los Angeles, and in Wellington, New Zealand from April - December 2007 with reshoots in May 2009. The film pioneered several new leaps in technology and special digital effects. Cameron dictated that only vegan food be served on the set due to his climate change awareness. A reported 150 mil. $ were spent to market the film. It opened #1 to a 77 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for the following 6 (!) weeks, and in the top 5 for another 5 weeks (#2-#4-#2-#4-#5), grossing a record 760.5 mil. $ (27.3 % of the total gross) in its long 34 week release there. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 204.1 mil. $ (7.3 %) and France with 175.6 mil. $ (6.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. It made an additional excess of 190.8 mil. $ on the home video market. It was nominated for 9 Oscars: It won Best Cinematography (Mauro Fiore (Training Day (2001))), Visual Effects and Art Direction. It lost Best Film to The Hurt Locker, Director to Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow, Editing to Hurt Locker, Music (James Horner) to Michael Giacchino for Up and Sound Mixing and Sound Editing to Hurt Locker. It won 2/4 Golden Globe nominations, 2/8 BAFTA noms, was nominated for a César award and a David di Donatello award, 2 Grammys and many other honors. 4 sequels are planned with Cameron at the helm; with Avatar 2 and 3 having completed shooting in November 2018, set for releases in Christmas 2020 and 2021. Since the film, Cameron has only co-directed the Avatar-inspired TV movie Toruk: The First Flight (2016). Sam Worthington (Macbeth (2006)) returned in Clash of the Titans (2010), Zoe Saldana (Premium (2006)) in Death at a Funeral (2010), and Weaver in Crazy on the Outside (2010). Avatar is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Avatar?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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9/06/2013

Avatar (2009) - Cameron's simplistic action-adventure wins with visuals

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