However, spoilers ahoy.
Plot racial text/subtexts
The story irked me in a way most white guilt films do. A person, usually of the white persuasion walks into an indigenous culture, slowly learning, assimilating and loving this culture that he has been sent to investigate, spy, or what have you. Falls in love with one of the natives usually "the fairest of them all" and ends up being "the most awesome one in the land" as Annalee Newitz probably would have said. Being a product of white colonialism from probably before World War two, it's hard for me not to inject my personal feelings about colonialism into this scenario. I found myself groaning and cringing every time Jake Sully conquers what the N'avi consider legendary feats effectively becoming a messianic figure of sorts. I did not want Neytiri to end up with Sully. It bugs me to no end to see the film pandering so obviously in the direction of it's perceived target audience. Yes, I am aware of the counter arguments that have been brought up by other, more intelligent people than me. But even after several days of digesting and analysing the film, I found it hard for me to look past the fact that this outsider, who came from nowhere, is able to integrate himself so completely into this culture in a matter of months. Devindra from the /filmcast mentioned that if Jake Sully wasn't white, the film would have been stronger. I whole heartedly agree, but this sentiment brings with it a new level of questions that I currently don't have the answers for. Is it my fault for not looking past the fact he's white? For example. Would it have been better if the story was told entirely from the N'avi's perspective? Would I have related better to the central character if he weren't white? Would I have related to him better? AM I just being racist towards white people for not wanting them to succeed? One thing is for sure; I wouldn't have these feelings if Jake weren't white. But obviously the movie could care less about my feelings, so I'll move on to a topic less political but equally as aggravating.
Bad Dialogue
Someone tell me I wasn't the only one who winced every time they said "I see you". Fortunately, the word "unobtainium" only surfaced no more than twice throughout the entire film. Ham fisted, explanatory exposition. Long, long scenes of Jake talking into his video log in which he outright tells us what's he's been doing for three months. Norman Spencer/Spelman whatever irritated me to hell and back. 10 years on the film and you're telling me Mr. Cameron sir couldn't have spiced up the dialogue a bit more? All that inner monologuing drove me quite nuts.Length
Okay, this is a rather catch-22. On one hand, I definitely think it droned on in some parts, yet I was utterly mesmerized by the scenes they set on Pandora. But I just did not care for anything the humans did. Any scene with non-blue people in it I was waiting for the transition, hoping that we see more of the lush, green, and frankly beautiful world that James Cameron dreamt up at the next cut. The quandary here is that in a film told from the perspective of the human meatbags, you have to spend some time with them, in order to set up relationships etc etc. But they were boring as hell. Michelle Rodriguez dies at some point, and I felt NOTHING. So even with 160 mins under its' belt, the film did not made me care for most of the human characters. Sigourney Weaver also dies, but the feeling is underwhelming. At that time, I was left wondering why did I not care about the deaths of two rather major characters in the film. In fact, most of the characters you're introduced to dies in the film, but you'll shrug and go "eh". Or at least, I did. So cut it down, but put in more Pandora? I'll leave it to you Mr. Cameron. I'm ready for a sequel with no humans in it.
So despite my incessant ramblings, I still adore the film. I plan to see it again, but in 2D, just to see if it's just as immersive. Pandora is very well realized. Neytiri is hot, not to mention very well developed. The final 30 minute battle sequence is downright badass, and the message and heart of the film is in the right place. Still, it's annoying to think that this film could have been THE MOST AWESOME FILM OF ALL TIME. Too bad it's not.
