Yesterday in Twitter Simon Pegg gave us the first bit of news on the latest Star Trek film in awhile. If you read into the comments by Simon Pegg, not only is the script completed but its an excellent script.
“A day will come when men no longer care for the earth, and at that day the gods will depart, and everything will be thrown into primal chaos.” – Terence McKenna
Such is part of message transmitted in James Cameron’s new movie Avatar, as it boldly lumbers its way to become the biggest movie in recent history (excluding Gone With The Wind), currently only second to the directors other epic, Titanic. This epic war epic is so epic in its epic scale, the fact it is screening in epic Imax 3D can physically be expressed in epically numb rear-ends, and epically sore necks of front-row moviegoers across the planet…epic.
The size and scope of this movie really cannot be ignored when discussing the merits and faults of the film. And let us get down to brass tacks, yes Avatar was a good movie, the majority of its 162 minute run time at least. However, the robot knife fight is something else entirely:
Yes that is a robot…with a giant knife…and yes it gets in a fight…
Set over 100 years in the future, humanity is pioneering out intergalactic neighborhood looking for resources for our dying planet. Considering how brutish and predictable Earth’s emissaries behave, I would hate to see how bleak Cameron’s idea of our home planet in the future could be. Somewhere in the relatively nearby Alpha Centauri star system, lies the forest moon of Pandora. Rich in natural resources, humanity has mobilized a privatized military and a mining company to strip mine the moon for the elusive Unobtanium mineral, which seems like a nice way of calling it a “fill in the blank” for oil. These things are briefly mentioned as the movie races audiences along in order to present the most colorful and memorable eye-candy to come out of a movie since The Matrix.
Obviously the indigenous beings of Pandora, the blue-skinned cat-like tribal Na’vi, have some qualms with the rape of their planet. What transpires over the remainder of the film is an entertaining, yet predictable Dances With Wolves meets Final Fantasy VII meets Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
The allegories to our own environmental dilemma on Earth are pretty obvious. The callousness of the company representative, the exploitation of their own workers for profits (whose dreadlocked, African American employees seem to not notice the irony of their predicament), and the clear devastation of Pandora are directly linked to modern day globalization, commercialism, and Sunshine Patriotism. The leader of the military theme even goes so far as to drop post 9-11 buzz words as: “preemptive strike,” “shock and awe,” and “fighting terror with terror.” I found myself laughing at this, mostly because of the scope and girth of Avatar. The movie is an international phenomenon, to the point where support groups for people with a surreal postpartum depression after seeing the movie because it’s not real and our planet is not like Pandora. These people fail to see the forest through the trees and the allegorical ties to our OWN PLANET and the imaginary world so thoroughly crafted by Cameron’s on screen magic.
The blatant messages of xenophobia, racism, cultural ignorance, and false flag waiving tactics used by the humans on Pandora should be truly be embraced. Especially during a time of horrific human suffering, not only in recently decimated Haiti, but any place where indigenous people have been brutalized into forceful relocation.
I feel that Avatar has hit the target but missed the mark in its ability to inform people of actual cultural atrocities from happening. Considering the fact that support groups exist for people to cope with Avatar being only a movie, is ultimately more frightening and telling, than a surge of capital into the Red Cross or 3rd world advocacy groups. What does it say about our nation’s entertainment business that Top Gun can get people to join the military but a movie about conservation and environmental responsibility like An Inconvenient Truth, is blasted as partisan-pandering nonsense?
One of the more potent and revealing lines behind the motivations of Avatar is from lead Sam Worthington as Marine Jake Sully. Only after learning about the Na’vi does he admit that “That’s how it’s done. When people are sitting on shit you want, you make them your enemy. Then you’re justified in taking it.” Again though I sense that this heavy and important message that Cameron is trying to convey is lost on audience members.
It is only now after experiencing Avatar, that I realize some of the back story, of the company, space travel and discovery of Pandora was left unexplained, although not completely unaddressed. The gaps left in the movie can be found in some online supplements and what I’m sure will be an epic DVD/Blu-Ray release (epic word count: 11) complete with all sorts of extras.
The timeframe of the movies events feels disjointed as well. After five years in cryogenic sleep, Sully goes from a literal extraterrestrial on Pandora, who is hated by the natives, to one of the most respected members of their society. There are several convenient montages to explain this, which do work well to show his pseudo life as a “Dreamwalker.” I get the feeling that a few tweaks here and there, to the timeframe alone would have resolved this issue. Perhaps that’s being nit-picky, as I sit in a climate controlled cinema watching a massive screen with the craziest colors and beasts that have come out of James Cameron’s head since Aliens.
What Avatar lacks in some areas, certainly visually it more than makes up for in spades. So much so that at times I felt the acting gets steamrolled out of the way in the name of technological advancements. Is that irony I smell cooking? From the opening scene flying over the jungles, the images are relentless. Some scenes are so realistic, the live actors and the computer animations exist in one place and time to seamlessly stitch together the flourishing landscape. At times I was reminded of the children’s book series Dinotopia, and its lush paradisiacal artwork. There is certainly an abundance of imagination as well. The art direction of life on Pandora fits like a glove over the rest of the space fantasy quite smoothly.
Perhaps what the most enjoyable facet that I discovered in Avatar was the interconnectedness of life on Pandora. Unfortunately this idea is lost in our reality, as we continue to pillage our natural habitat at unprecedented rates. The evidence Sigourney Weaver’s character finds suggests that all living things share a network of energy and synchronicity from the roots of trees to the food the Na’vi eat, and the memories of their ancestors. Their holistic approach to the web of life strikes similar chords in ancient cultural wisdom and even Tibetan Buddhism.
So what’s the bottom line here? If you haven’t seen the nation sweeping sensation yet, there’s no pressing rush. I imagine much like Titanic, it will be in theatres for many more weeks raking in as much money as possible, and breaking even more records. Do however make sure to see it on a big screen, and in Imax if at all possible as it is meant to be seen. There are already talks of turning it into a trilogy, but if we learned anything from Pirates of the Caribbean, which is gearing up for a 4th movie, that sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone.
“Our Imagination, the inside of our heads, really is the most vast frontier.” –Terrence McKenna
Beforehand, I have to admit that I was more interested in seeing Matt Damon wearing a uniform than watching another military based movie. However, when Matt collaborated with director Paul Greengrass for the third time, it was pretty clear to me that I got to watch it, no matter what!
In my humble opinion, both did an excellent job and I felt that my money was well spent. Nonetheless, it’s incredibly hard to review a movie with such strong and delicate story line. I’m no soldier, so I believe I’m not in the position nor do I possess the proper knowledge/experience to judge the movie’s topic. I wanna focus on the positive aspects that caught my attention.
The filming locations deserve to be rated with an A+. I have never been so impressed and astonished before, when it comes to authenticity of representing a Middle Eastern country in a movie. At times, it was even so realistic that I thought they actually went down to Baghdad/Iraq (Filming locations were in Spain, UK and Morocco).
The movie itself was very fast-paced, so the runtime of 115 minutes felt like nothing. I’m not a big fan of action sequences, but I did enjoy them in Green Zone. They weren’t overdone, and pretty comprehensible.
Matt Damon as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller
Matt Damon was in top form, and portrayed his character as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller absolutely believable. Despite all skeptics, Green Zone wasn’t a cheap “Bourne” rip-off movie at all. In fact, the only similarity you will come across is an extremely dedicated Matt Damon, who once again keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Check out the official website of the movie “Green Zone” here. It offers a lot of great pictures, videos, downloads and more. I personally can’t wait for the DVD to be released, because after the movie was over I felt like watching it all over again.
Thanks to Neal for sharing his great pictures with us from his set location visit with the film, Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
The film stars Jim Carrey and Carla Gugino. The life of a businessman begins to change after he inherits six penguins, and as he transforms his apartment into a winter wonderland, his professional side starts to unravel.
To check out all of his photos from the shoot, click here!! If you have any photos you want to share, send us an email to admin@beforethetrailer.com
We were sent a link to the video below. It was taken from Calvin from the balcony of his apartment building. Must have been pretty cool. If you have any photos from Spider-man or any other film just send us an email to admin@beforethetrailer.com We would love to see it!!