My "Avatar" disappointment

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Finally went to see Avatar yesterday. My wife and I waited till school had begun and so could enjoy watching the movie in the morning on a working weekday! Once again, we had most of the cinema to ourselves. Nice :-)

The 3 D experience was really nice despite my getting a headache because of it for the first half an hour or so. The scenes on Pandora were brilliantly done etc BUT the storyline to me was really weak. The characters to me were pretty one dimensional. The hero who overcomes all odds (Jake), bad military guy (the colonel), the greedy corporation man, the mostly mindless soldiers who follow orders without question, a couple of geeks, a sexy macho tough woman who is at home with weapons (can't even remember her character's name - but it was Michelle Rodriguez - hehehe which tells you that I have noticed that this is her stereotype role in many movies - and even the LOST TV series). The noble (but still one dimensional) native (Tsu tey) who is the jealous territorial type, a native princess (Neytiri) to fall reluctantly in love with hero. And of course how the natives need this "outsider" to come in to save them. This is not to say I did not "enjoy" the special effects - especially the action scenes, the running, jumping, climbing, falling, flying etc. But I wonder if the many accolades for the movie are remotely justified....

Most disturbing for me is what I think is the over glorification of our "oneness with nature". Way too "new agey" for me. I read that this was James Cameron's response to the Star Wars universe and stories. Am not a big Star Wars fan but I think Star Wars is way better... in terms of characters and storyline.

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