Critics of Avatar

[idogis1]

I really am avoiding reviews of Avatar because of this video (http://tinyurl.com/yholpwz).

I know that the overarching story is very similar to dozens of films and novels made before, but the aspects of the Avatar taken from, say, Laurence of Arabia and Dances with Wolves is really basic. A person from one culture is exposed to an opposing culture and falls in love with it. How many other films have had this story and no one ever pointed it out. Saying that Avatar is a exact copy of anything is kind of like saying Valkyrie was a copy of Caesar.

Most art has aspects and influences from other pieces of art. It doesn't make it any worse, it doesn't lessen it in any way, it just serves to make the work better.

[Payoang]

I've tried to keep up with most Avatar reviews ("most," -- "all" would be an impossible task), but the more glamorous agree that despite many general (sci-fi) and even more specific (Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, Atlantis, Ferngully, Ocarina of Time) influences, Avatar stands on its own. It is so very more than a mere testament to how amazingly advanced 3D technology has become.

[Étienne]

I've tried to keep up with most Avatar reviews ("most," -- "all" would be an impossible task), but the more glamorous agree that despite many general (sci-fi) and even more specific (Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, Atlantis, Ferngully, Ocarina of Time) influences, Avatar stands on its own. It is so very more than a mere testament to how amazingly advanced 3D technology has become.

I would have to fully agree to the power of infinity.

[Roiki]

When you break it down to it's elements the story is pretty basic and predictable, it's no wonder since it was mostly consieved before Cameron made The Titanic. While i'm sure that he did rewrite some of it during these past 15 years i doubt he did that very much, it being his vision and all. So i understand it that some people have grievances with a old fashioned and straightforward plot which doesn't offer much twists and mind boggling puzzles. Despite this it has an imdb score of 8.8 and it should tell that it achieved its goal of entertaining people.

I do agree with most of the crisics to some extent, Avatar does not shine in the plot alone, where it truly shines is the execution and the attention to detail that it was made. During these times most sci-fi or action films don't have that in my opinion. I hope Cameron sets his sights even higher on the next avatar movie and focuses more on plot and character development now that the technology has been made available.

Roger Ebert wrote a good review(i have a certain respect for his opinions) which summarises my thoughts of the movie quite well. link

[shiaru]

I hate it when they call it Pocahontas in space, because that is the most stupid thing I ever heard.

[Brainiac]

I hate it when they call it Pocahontas in space, because that is the most stupid thing I ever heard.

the story did kinda resemble Pocahontas. 
including an old tree people talk to, and people digging for precious minerals.

[Roiki]

For those who remember Pocahontas well enough usually remember it when watching Avatar. Without any place names or character names someone might mix them when reading one or the other, they are that much alike. I like to think that Cameron liked Pocahontas and made his own version of it, Pocahontas did come out around the time he thought about Avatar. It's funny when people say it's a ripoff of Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves when the aforementioned was quite obviously adaptation of the latter.

It's just so narrow-minded to complain about a single weak aspect of the movie. Sci-fi isn't clearly for everybody.

[Eyamsiyu]

If there's one thing that I have come to realize, it's this: no "type" of story is ever original anymore, because a man we all know (some loathe, some love) already wrote plays on most play types: William Shakespeare.  Any story created after that is, more or less, a variation off of his plays, however drastic. 

So, with that said, Avatar is very similar to many other works of art, but with all that is involved in the story, how the story is told, and the cinematic aspect of the story, it is out on its own as a story.

Critics can say what they want, positive or negative.  I saw plenty of pre-release reviews from critics that said they were sub-par.  However, I saw one that was very positive.  The website rated on a grading system similar to academics, and it had been given an overall A.  That was enough for me to see it, and it did not disappoint.  Now I don't care what critics say.

[MOUNTAINBANSHEE]

Look the stuped thing about critics is it is on there personal taste. So you may have a critic loving avatar and another thinking its crap (s***, etc)? so you can't make up you mind on something someong says unless you know they have the exate same taste as you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Eywa ngahu

[Ioang]

Sure the story is a little derivative, but I think that's to be expected. It's a morality tale that's told in a very interesting and unique way. The world of the movie is complex, but the story is not.

[Motxokxen]

I really am avoiding reviews of Avatar because of this video (http://tinyurl.com/yholpwz).

i laughed quite a lot, especially when he made references to ewoks/star wars.

but people who say that a retold story is not a good one are stupid, and even so avatar is not quite a remake.

In general most stories are not original, especially movies. The last major movie that had an original plot was the matrix trilogy, and even that was compilation of various religious and philosophical beliefs. (okay perhaps not the last but it's the one that sticks out in my head)

[Eyamsiyu]

Honestly, the only way that a movie would be truly original is if it was completely out of the ordinary in every way.  And I'm talking more a long the lines of probably more "artsy-fartsy" type films.  Basically taking modern art and putting it in film form.  And no one's really going to want to see that.

[Mokriyä Täftxuyu]

I know the most universal criticism has been about the storyline and how it is so similar to Dances With Wolves (in my defense I have never seen the movie, sad I know, and that has really helped me in not being as biased I feel), but the critics have to take into account that this script and story idea was written LONG, LONG, LONG ago. I mean all those years in between the actual creation of a script and then it being realized, someone is going to have similar stories. But to me the best way to kill that criticism is this: This movie was James Cameron's vision. So what if they story has been done before? James Cameron did a one up on it, because Avatar is unlike anything you have ever seen. End of story  LOL

[Txur’Itan]

I tend to dismiss the critics, they are payed to be exceptional at being cynics and pessimistic, it is the source of their entertainment value.  Without that, they do not get readership.

[Hufwe Makto]

i think critics should go to hell... if u think the movie looks tight go watch it and damn the reviews.

[Tskxäozì Ewaoe]

Why it's different from those mentioned above: It's aliens ^^

[Thorinbur]

But its not the plot that makes Avatar so special!

It's effects (details, quality of the immage, overal look)
and what is most important universe!

Spoiler

*SPOILERS!! IF YOU DIDN'T SEE MOVIE YET DO NOT READ THAT!  be trans

So what that you know that Jake will be tought by Naytiri, so what that you predicted that he will be transfered to his Avatar's body and so, if most of the movie is focused in discovering Na'vi society and Pandoras eviroment.

This is what makes it so special. This is why i am going to see it again. To WATCH it again, admaiering stunning technology, awesome "performance capture", and stunning immages. And to learn more about planet and Na'vi.

And as it was said before Avatars story was writen 15 years ago...

[ANiceSunset]

In my physics classes today, there was a discussion with the teacher how Avatar was an unoriginal plot/movie, how it stole ideas from movies (yadda yadda yadda)...

The teacher plans on watching Avatar anyways.

[Hawnuyu atìtse'a]

Criticizers of avatar (there's a difference) can go get stuffed. By the end of the week it will be the #2 movie ever behind titanic, and now there's a forum dedicated to learning the language . So suck it haters.

[IkranPilot]

First, how do you define an original plot? It it something that's never been done before? Or never been done before on screen? Or never been done before on a big screen? Or never done well? Depending on your definition, there are very few truly "original" plots left. Dances With Wolves, for instance, was highly similar to 1957's Run of the Arrow, with numerous other movies between and since sharing a similar plot or elements. The Matrix on, the other hand, even though it shared some elements with earlier films, was pretty damn unique. The sequels, however ...

And then you have films like Armageddon, Deep Impact, and Asteroid (all of which, I would add, came out within 12 months of each other) that tell the same story in different ways. But which one was best? It's a matter of personal opinion. I preferred Deep Impact for the science, but Armageddon was more exciting. Even though they all three told more or less the same story, they were all different.

But the plot being similar to other films, stores, etc. isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the telling of the story is completely different. Even though we know the story, it's still fun to see another storyteller's take on it in the same way you had films like Armageddon and Deep Impact telling the same story in different ways. Or the way fairy tales may be told differently by different parents of different cultures, but with the same general values to be learned out of them. The story can be the same, but different, at the same time.

Or as a tweet I saw best described it: "Many people don't realize that it's not a unique story that makes a great film, it's the unique delivery of a story; which Avatar did."