My thoughts on James Cameron’s Avatar trailer

Update 12/12/09
I’ve now seen the movie. You can read my thoughts here.

For those who don’t know, Avatar is James Cameron’s (Aliens, Terminator 2, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning) upcoming movie. He had the idea for 15 years, but had to wait for technology to catch up with his vision of 3d film projection and realistically rendered computer generated alien characters being controlled by actors covered in ping pongs.

Avatar’s budget is over 200 million dollars and features so much technological innovation that it’s already being hailed as the next revolution in film making, comparable to the Jazz Singer’s introduction of synchronized dialogue, Jurassic Park’s introduction of CG creatures, and The 40 Year Old Virgin’s introduction of Judd Apatow’s sensibilities on comedies.

So 15 years in the making, giant budget and lots of hype, but no one had seen a single frame until this past Friday when they released the trailer.

What could possibly go wrong?

To begin with, for the first half of the trailer it looks like James Cameron’s top secret grand vision was to make a really nice looking video game cut scene complete with:

Drably colored spaceships

a drably colored military

drably colored improbable landscapes

a drably colored commander bearing scars (literal and one assumes metaphorical) from a past war that will surely cloud his judgment in this current conflict.

and of course, drably colored Mechs.

So far, we’re off to an underwhelming start. Where are these aliens that represent the next step forward in computer generated imagery?

Oh, here’s one.

Wow! 15 years and 200 million dollars and we get CG aliens that look like people, but with slightly longer necks. That’s right, slightly longer necks!

What was once the sole province of Botticelli paintings

Is now available on the big screen, for the low price of four easy payments of the gross domestic product of Bulgaria.

These alien designs are terrible. Did James Cameron really wait 15 years until computer graphics technology could catch up with his vision blue Thundercats?

And while I’m on the subject of color, who did the color design, a box of Neon Crayolas? It’s a bad sign when your palette is outclassed by a romance novel cover.

Also, where is this movie taking place? A Mead Trapper Keeper folder from the 80’s?

All it’s missing is a unicorn. So I added one.

Now some people might complain that I’m being overly judgmental, because Avatar is meant to be seen in 3D. But I don’t buy that.

I’ve watched videos of fanboy reaction to the 3d footage shown in theaters, and most just raved about the sharp image quality. If you love sharp images might I suggest buying in a pair of glasses? You’ll be amazed for hours on end by all the detail you can see in the trees.

Another big selling point was the ability to see pores on the CG aliens’ faces. Well, if your enjoyment of a movie is derived primarily from bad skin, just watch the Wrestler.

Good special effects don’t make movies good. Good stories make movies good. And Avatar’s story, as best I can tell (Avatar spoiler alert!), centers around drab industrial humans trying to ruin the natural beauty of Unicorn planet. But through a scientific experiment, one of these drab humans becomes a blue alien so he can spy on their blue alien world. The only problem is he falls in love with a blue alien babe, learns to appreciate the wonder of their 80’s-fantasy-art world and ends up fighting against the humans to protect his new neon purple home planet.

And if that sounds familiar, it’s because that is also the plot of…

FernGully, the 1992 animated motion picture about a human named Zak who works for a logging company chopping down rainforests. That is, until he is shrunk down to fairy size by a magical fairy named Crysta who lives in the rainforest. At first he’s mad, but then discovers how beautiful the magical fairy-world-rainforest is, falls in love with Crysta, and helps the fairies fight against the evil logging company.

I don’t know what’s sadder. How disappointed I am by the Avatar trailer, or that I will still see the movie in theaters. What am I saying? The saddest thing is that I remember FernGully.

My thoughts on James Cameron’s Avatar

Trailer for new Robert De Niro movie

Taken: The Sequel: The Trailer

Thoughts of a 15 year old boy

Tags: 40 Year Old Virgin, Aliens, Avatar, Botticelli, CG, FernGully, James Cameron, Jurassic Park, MoCap, Piranah Part Two: The Spawning, Terminator 2, The Jazz Singer, The Wrestler, thundercats, Titanic, unicorns

Movies | Adam | August 26, 2009 12:09 am

25 Comments

By StewPorkPalace, August 26, 2009 @ 10:18 am

Bravo.
By Tim Rauch, August 26, 2009 @ 11:02 am

any post which includes Mead Trapper Keeper folders and Ferngully has got to be right. well researched, sir.
By paul, August 26, 2009 @ 11:02 am

Cats totally aren’t aliens.

Also, cats can’t stand on two legs like that.

I call shenanigans on this entire movie.
By r0ck0, August 26, 2009 @ 3:35 pm

I totally agree about everything you say, except the part about remembering Ferngully being a bad thing. Okay I don’t remember it vividly, but it was one of my childhoods favourite movies. Most of all because of the hilarious bat
By .tiff, August 27, 2009 @ 4:13 pm

Great post. Also, it looks like Hitler shares your sentiments (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPyipuT-Jg)
By Adam, August 27, 2009 @ 4:42 pm

Ha. That link was broken but I fixed it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPyipuT-Jg

Before writing this I didn’t check around to see other people’s reactions to the trailer, but now that I have I’m surprised how many people made the FernGully connection.
By Sleek, August 27, 2009 @ 8:08 pm

now why would i want to go out and watch that movie…15 years?
By Torley, August 30, 2009 @ 10:08 pm

The unicorn pic is frakkin’ awesome. All that’s missing is Obama and a pancake. Perhaps.

I’ve yet to see a “dramatic” movie featuring brightly-colored mechs, but if you ever see a pink + green one, COUNT ME IN. (Please.)

Related, What James Cameron’s Avatar should really be called… http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/3845703015/

(Hey, at least those 10-ft. blue cats aren’t Kilrathi!)
By Mathieu, August 31, 2009 @ 7:53 am

it is also the plot of District 9.

another really poor movie.
By dialecticyou, August 31, 2009 @ 6:35 pm

comparison sure makes life fun.
By Zulu, August 31, 2009 @ 6:37 pm

Great post. Very amusing
By Ben, September 2, 2009 @ 7:09 pm

I take it you haven’t actually seen the 15 min preview screening at Imax yet? See what you think after seeing that.
By Dorfer, September 2, 2009 @ 8:05 pm

That’s hilarious. The first thing I thought of when I saw the trailer was FernGully. I’m glad other people thought of that. I wish instead of Avatar is when just a F’ed up, dark version of FernGully. I go see that. Anyway, nice post.
Peace
By Jill Moore, September 4, 2009 @ 8:09 am

I watched the fake iphone commercial where the ex-boyfriend stalks his former girlfriend. disgusting. I work with these victims (former girlfriend)on a daily basis. The fear they live in because their ex’s won’t leave them alone, is terrifying. You have no idea how much. Again, you are helping perpetuate societal beliefs that abuse and stalking behaviors are OK. THEY ARE NOT!!! Even the end was stupid. Non one is worth taking your life over. Are you really as self centered as your character in the commercial?
By Adam, September 4, 2009 @ 9:23 am

Or maybe I had him kill himself at the end to show that the guy in the video is a weak pathetic loser and not a danger to his ex. Or maybe I’m self-centered. Either way I there’s no arguing that you are doing important good work, and if you think I’m making your job harder I guess we’ll just agree to disagree.
By kelseroo, September 17, 2009 @ 10:24 am

Don’t be ashamed of Fern Gully! That movie rocked. I can still quote Batty’s rap:-)
By B-Dogg, November 26, 2009 @ 5:10 am

Nice one! I came here after I googled “Avatar, Fern Gully” to make sure I wasn’t going mad noticing the glaring smilararies with Fern Gully. I had taken to calling the film “Starship Troopers – The Secret of Fern Gully” to friends when sumarising the trailer. When spending the €330m this film is reported to have cost, did nobody during a studio or production meeting put up their hand and say “James, this 15yr dream you’ve had is great and all, but it’s been done in 1992 by an animation company”.

The Unicorn us a touch of Genius by the way – ha!
By iosafiosa, December 9, 2009 @ 9:01 pm

the plot of district 9 is only similar to avatar in that the guy gets turned into an alien, and that idea has been done thousands of times before so its not a “rip-off.” but avatar is basically a live action remake of ferngully lol
By Autumn, December 18, 2009 @ 6:17 pm

Unfortunately, I disagree with your comments. This movie is definitely the best I’ve ever seen, the graphics are awesome, the world is awesome, the story is awesome – yep it’s a bit like Pocahontas and Fern Gully, *but* it brings that same message to life in a different, amazing way. It makes it so much more real (yah, real, for those people with enough imagination to make it so. It’s called ‘escapism’; people use it to break their monotonous lives). Love the movie, the message behind it, the creatures; absolutely fantastic!
By Arlene, December 21, 2009 @ 7:19 pm

In 1992, my daughter was 4 years old and Fern Gully was a regular movie watch. Tonight 17 years later I have had the wonderful opportunity to watch Avatar and I was reminded of how rapacious we human beings are for oil, minerals, water, space and power. Avatar and Fern Gully will hopefully resonate with some of us and help us to continue to nurture mother earth. Bravo James Cameron for reigniting our interest in saving our future.
By Nice, December 24, 2009 @ 4:35 pm

OMG… It was totally FERNGULLY! SAME PLOT! The Tree… the Girl–fairy/avatar… whatever.. Damn! It’s all the same… only more mature… Idk..

I was 3-4 when I last watched Ferngully and yes, this movie has FERNGULLY written all over it. But give props to the effects–it was awesome. Story-wise though…. well… you know.
By Paul, December 28, 2009 @ 11:18 pm

Avatar was almost as good as Ferngully, but Robin Williams and Cheech and Chong were in Ferngully. I am surprised no one is talking about the “acting”. ha. Anyway, Ferngully was way scarier when that black oily skeleton finally died my poor kids had nightmares. I will be surprised if the lawyers do not sue Avatar producers for any profits Avatar might make.
By Leigh Ann, January 1, 2010 @ 1:55 am

When I saw Avatar I just kept thinking, “My name is Batty”!! Total Ferngully rip off.