A beautiful mess (Avatar)

I'm pretty sure no one reads this often, and it is a good thing because I'm about to step outside of my expertise into movie reviews.

So, Avatar has come up in Oscar talks and is on a course to sink Titantic in terms or revenue. Really? I'm not a Titanic fan, but the beautiful mess that is Avatar is a good example of what is wrong with mass media.

If the role of art, or in this case entertainment posing as art, is to engage us and to illumniate the human condition in some way, Avatar is a pretty poor example. I will absolutely admit that it probably deserves some kind of Oscar for technical brilliance, but once the awards ceremony moves into prime time it should be an afterthought.

The storytelling in Avatar just isn't very good. There is never a moment of suspense when one thinks Sully might not get the alien or defeat the evil hoards. Every character is a broad stroke caricature from the tough as nails heartless commander to the spineless and annoying corporate middle manager. Even in the short scenes with Nala's father we get the complete stereotypical picture of what we have typically been given in tribal leaders.

To me a great film is one that stands up over time, and this one won't. Whereas a move like Star Wars was technically ahead of its time, there were some interesting characters. The story worked and was compelling and that is why the original has held the test of time. Sure the effects look questionable now, but it's still an interesting film. The most interesting character in Avatar . . . (I started to write this sentence several times and I couldn't finish it - there are no interesting characters)