Movie Review: Avatar

18Dec/090

I loved the movie Avatar. I was lucky to see it this evening, courtesy of my company (Adobe products were used very heavily in the production of the film. Read more here.)

Okay, so maybe it was because I loved the Smurfs growing up. And Blue Man Group in my young adulthood.

Or maybe it was just because I haven't seen a movie in the theater since National Treasure. Yes, in 2004.

No, it was simply that it was a great movie, well-executed. It had the right blend of heroism, nature, action, economics, and spirituality for my taste.

I'll be clear up front, though... I did NOT see it in 3D. I saw it in good old, standard wide screen. And it was great even in that format.

Avatar is an epic new version of Joseph Campbell's oft-told Monomyth, set on a distant planet in the future, where there's something the planet has that mankind wants, that can only be gotten by forcibly moving an indigenous culture. Written & directed by James Cameron, it's his first feature film since Titanic in 1997. As Suzanne says, "with the money that made, it's not like he needed to make another movie since then."

It's such a strong telling of the Monolyth, using new technology (some of which was invented by Cameron himself), you might consider this the Star Wars of this generation.

The fact that the story is so common didn't distract me, or cause me to anticipate more than I participated. In this case, though, you find yourself rooting against the hero's humanity, in a weird twist that turns your worldview on end, for a brief time.

I appreciated the clever parallels that some might interpret between the film and U.S. intervention in Iraq. And I was able to overlook the few moments when the film seemed to be trying to make a green / "Save the earth" jab.

Most of all, though, I appreciated that the people representing the tie to the natural and divine became the people our hero chose to evolve toward, in favor of the "evil" of unbridled human-centered endeavor. And I was able to overlook the occasional jab at religion, on behalf of science.

I give it two thumbs-up and a great recommendation. The "divine" in the film doesn't reflect the truths of a Christian world view by any stretch of the imagination, but it does reflect the goodness, truth, and justice that revelation teaches us about God. That's just a caveat to my recommendation, acknowledging that you'll want to approach the film with an open mind and a mature spirituality.

I took my friend Phil to see it with me, and we both enjoyed it. I invited Phil when Suzanne had no interest in seeing it, and now I'm trying to talk her into going to see it with me. Our first movie together since 2004.

(If you're curious about Joseph Campbell's formula for the hero's journey, check out his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It's a good one. If you're nearby, you're welcome to borrow my copy.)

No related posts.

Print This Post

Enjoy this article?

Consider subscribing to our rss feed!

About Michael

Michael loves his God, wife, 3 sons, family & friends, reading, music, & his garden. He's a music director at Holy Family Catholic Church. By day, he is a Sr. Consultant at Omniture, an Adobe company.

Filed under: Movie Review Leave a comment

Comments (0) Trackbacks (2) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

More on Avatar: It’s a Movie, Folks « Halbrook.net

Fr. Robert Barron on Avatar « Halbrook.net

« Capital Punishment? Look! It’s me! In the paper! »

Welcome!

This is the online home of Michael Halbrook, Suzanne Halbrook, and their growing family. We're a family of five living out our Catholic faith and vocation in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

Subscribe via RSS
Halbrook.net on Facebook
Michael on Facebook
Suzanne on Facebook
Michael's Tweets

Facebook Community

Already a member?
Login

Last visitors

Twitter @Halbrook

Hey, that was me! Very cool! RT @webanalytics_it Comparing marketing channels #attribution #AdobeSummit @Halbrook http://t.co/csJSQTY2 2012/05/17
LOL. Literally. RT @joe_was_taken: Might go practice my golf swing while waiting for the android SDK to finish downloading. 2012/05/16
About to share these concepts in a breakout at #AdobeSummit #Attribution http://t.co/wlEuZzDx 2012/05/16
@owainc @RayPunSD I'd love to hear Father's take on that. There is a personal element missing in the digital self if we're not careful. 2012/05/16
I think there's more a direct relationship of convenience-2-multichannel than indirect of trust-2-multi http://t.co/awl387zc @MineThatData 2012/05/16