We Need To Have An Honest Conversation About The Avatar Franchise
Yesterday, I saw a tweet praising 'Titanic' as a movie that showcases the height of blockbuster filmmaking....
....and I couldn't agree more. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a 'Titanic' superfan like Nate or Jared Carrabis (who are, for some reason, 'Titanic' superfans) - but that is just an undeniably awesome movie. Jack and Rose, the pose at the front of the ship, the "I'll never let you go" moment, the band going down, the boobs scene....it's the epitome of iconic.
So I used that tweet as an opportunity to get off a James Cameron take, one that isn't all that original, but one that I truly believe....
I know that pushing forward CGI with the Avatar franchise (and exploring the ocean) is what James Cameron truly cares about more than anything and that's what he wants to do with his career at this point, and all the power to him with that, big respect, but a big part of me wishes he didn't spend the last twenty years exclusively doing that. It feels like he sacrificed the James Cameron that made 'The Terminator/T2' and 'Aliens' and 'The Abyss' and 'True Lies' and 'Titanic' for a buncha Avatar movies that are just….fine?
I know they make a shit ton of money, and they're obviously visual masterpieces, and the world-building in them is pretty good too! They just have such basic stories with such "meh" dialogue that I just think it's incredibly silly to talk about these movies like they are "century defining pieces of media" like the Na'vi would like you to believe….
Wanna talk about century defining pieces of media? How about 'The Sopranos'? 'The Social Network'? 'Breaking Bad'? Chris Klemmer's isolation stream? 'No Country For Old Men'? We're talking about 'AVATAR' on that level?! C'mon now!!
And I'll admit, I probably wouldn't even give a shit about the Avatar franchise if James Cameron wasn't such a pompous asshole about it. They're fine movies and they obviously have a fanbase….but ol' Jimmy Bluepeople shits on comic book movies every chance he gets, he puts them down like they're soooo beneath him as a filmmaker, he says they "lack character depth" - and then he turns around and puts out these three hour 'Avatar' movies where almost none of the characters are memorable! There's Jake Sully, there's Zoe Saldana, there's the army guy with scars on his face, there's Sigourney Weaver, and there's the lunatic from The Wild Thornberrys that they call Spider in the second?! I saw the first one a couple times and the sequel only once - but that's legitimately all I remember! And again - they're not horrible movies, but the stories are just fine, and for sure NOT worthy of their length or being talked about with the greats in my eyes. I mean - they're practically glorified comic book movies! They've got much better CGI than your average comic book movie, but I don't think there's much difference otherwise! They even pull a "Somehow, Palpatine returned!" with the army guy with face scars in the second one - and that got nominated for Best Picture!
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If you love these movies - all the power in the world to ya. I don't like being the debbie downer. I'm all Avatar'd out myself, though - I left the 3hr15min sequel knowing that'd be the final movie in the series I get bamboozled into seeing in theaters. I just don't care anymore. Maybe I'll check out the next one on streaming if it once again gets talked about like it's 'The Godfather' - but that new trailer did almost nothing for me.
P.S. I will concede to 'AVATAR' being the best franchise of all time to play on mute on all the TVs at Best Buy. If you're looking to sell some 4K TVs, look no further.