Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?

....that has got to be one of my favorite lines from Aliens!


Over the weekend we saw the movie Avatar...I had mixed feelings about this movie from the get go, but being a scifi junkie I felt it was my duty to see this film. Let me start by saying James Cameron is a innovative film maker...stories just aren't his strong suit. Sometime the stars align and you get something like Titanic but that happens once in a blue moon.

This is a beautiful movie. We saw it in 3-D, which I recommend you do. It is a waste of money to see this movie in regular 2-D because it is meant to be experienced.The world of Pandora is shockingly beautiful and fanciful. It is a place that many of us dream of with it's lighted paths and iridescent wildlife. For all the beauty...don't expect much in the way of storyline.


This movie starts out with a narrative from the twin brother of the scientist trained for the Avatar mission on Pandora. Because of his twins untimely death, Jake Sully, is sent in his place. Jake is a wounded marine with no scientific training. He is sent on this mission armed only with his DNA, which is identical to his twin so he is the only person in the world able to use this avatar. This mission is one supposedly of peace. They have something we want and we want to strip mine their forest to get it. But...we want to ask nicely before we destroy their homes for a mineral that it's never clear what it's uses are. Plus it has a really ignorant name...Unobtainium...yeah that's right I really just said that. Unobtainium sells for a ridiculous amount of money on Earth and so the corporate sponsors of this trip are willing to employ the big bad US Military to get what it wants. See told you the storyline was weak...and predictable. I guess we know what side of the fence that James Cameron comes down on where environmental issues are concerned. He is about as subtle as a nail gun.


Now it wasn't all bad....the personal story is pretty well thought out. It is believable love story and the connection the Na'vi have with their planet is pretty cool I must admit. Cameron takes the concept of "Jacking in" to a whole new level. The Na'vi people have a long braid and in that braid is a USB cable of sorts. They are able to connect with the world...plants, wildlife etc..just by "plugging in". They literally become one with the world around them, which is pretty cool in a scifi way and very creative I must say. 


Don't get me wrong...I'm not in favor of strip mining and destroying the rainforest. I'm just tired of there never being an argument in movies like this....the capitalist society is always bad and the US military is there for the sole purpose to due the bidding of big business and destroy the beauty around them. 


I know this sounds like I didn't like the movie, but I did. I liked it for what it was...a scifi movie, not a social commentary......