James Cameron's Avatar Is Beginning To Annoy Me (A Rant)

 

Ok, so James Cameron, the guy who directed three of the greatest sci-fi films of all time (Terminator, Terminator 2 and Aliens) is making his big return to directing feature films this year.  It's the first film he's made since Titanic came out back in 1997 (those documentary films don't count).  His new project is a brand new sci-fi film called Avatar, which unlike most everything else these days isn't a remake or reboot of some classic sci-fi film or TV series.  It's something entirely new. 

 

On paper, this sounds too awesome for words.  It's one of the greatest sci-fi directors of all time dreaming up a new masterpiece of wonders we've never seen before.  This should be right up my alley, right?  Then why the hell am I worried?  Why am I starting to get annoyed?  I've been trying to figure this out for a little bit now, and I'm still not 100% sure of the answer, but I believe I'm beginning to understand why.  It's all just sounding so incredibly pretentious to me.

 

Is James Cameron an amazing director?  Without question.  Has he provided the genre of sci-fi with some of its most beloved films?  Duh, obviously.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that everything he's ever going to touch from this point forward is going to turn to gold, yet that's how every article I've read about his new film is making it sound.  Seriously, every single article.  One after another.  They're all already hailing Avatar as if it will be the greatest film ever made, like it's not even just a film but a life changing experience.  Listening to some of the articles found online, it's almost as if they're talking about this film being akin to the second coming of Christ in regards to the levels of outrageous joy it will bring to the world.

 

I'm sorry, I'm just not buying it.  If this film is going to be so god damned amazing, then why is it that every bit of it I see looks like it came from a generic low budget sci-fi film?  Other parts of it look like they were literally stolen from pre-existing franchises without even an attempt to hide the fact.  Those big power suit mechs that everyone's gushing over?  They look exactly the same as every mech suit I've ever seen on the cover of every Battlemech product ever made.  These amazing new aliens that we've been hearing so many rumors about?  Just like every other sci-fi film ever made, they look just like humans except they have different eyes and ears and stuff.  But they've still got 10 fingers and 10 toes. 

 



 

So if the big ass mech suits look like normal big ass mech suits, and the aliens look like something you'd see in your standard Star Trek movie, would someone please explain to me then just what makes this upcoming film so groundbreaking and mind blowingly awesome?  And don't just say it's because James Cameron is making it.  After Episode I, I think we've all learned that even the most famous sci-fi filmmakers ever can make horrible mistakes.  So far, I haven't seen much about Avatar to really care about.  I do realize though that the film is still far away, and I haven't seen any actual footage from the film yet, so I could be totally wrong and the film will be every bit as amazing as they say it will be.  I really hope that it is too.  I love sci-fi afterall and am always  happy when great new sci-fi comes out.

 

As I said earlier though, it's the pretentiousness of it all that's really bugging me.  James Cameron has been making big statements and wild claims about how his new film is going to revolutionize sci-fi filmmaking as we know it.  He says it's going to change the way we view sci-fi just like The Matrix did.  The problem is, if you look back historically, no film that has ever made such bold claims before it came out has ever lived up to them.  It's been films like the original Star Wars and The Matrix, films that came out with little to no marketing and which didn't announce themselves boldly to the wolrd, that tend to make the biggest impact.  For a more recent example, look at District 9 which just came out last Friday.  It's a tiny little film with only a $30 million budget, yet it's done things we've never seen done in a sci-fi film.  It gave us aliens that are more than just people with lots of makeup on.  It gave us the best live action mech suit battle I've ever seen.  It did a lot, and you didn't hear the director talking up the film over six months in advance saying how his work is going to change the world.

 

My fear is that Cameron is talking like he is because he desperately wants us to believe what he is saying.  I'm afraid that he's making such bold statements because he's trying to build buzz for his film in any way he can because maybe deep down he's realized that he's created just another generic sci-fi film and he may have a huge bomb on his hands.  Perhaps if he can convince us all before we see the film that it's going to be the greatest thing ever, then just maybe he'll sell enough tickets on the opening weekend to the curious amongst us to make the film a success before word of mouth spreads about it's general blandness.

 

I really am hoping that I'm wrong though, but the pretentiousness just continues.  This Friday in IMAX theatres across the country they're going to be doing a special sneak screening of 15 minutes of selected footage from the film.  I've managed to snag a spot at one of these screenings actually, and will be sure to report back to you what I think of the footage.  Will it suck?  Will it rock my world?  Who knows.  I'm obviously leaning towards the former there, but I could be very well suprised.  I must say though, after the awesomeness that was District 9 last weekend, Avatar's going to have to be pretty fucking impressive if it wishes to be considered favorably in my mind when compared to Neill Blomkamp's masterpiece.

 

So be sure to check back here next week to hear my thoughts on the footage they're screening this weekend.