Avatar (3D)

Tonight we rather spontaneously decided to watch Avatar together with Aurelie and Romaine. I had a pretty shitty day at work (Idiots! All of them!) and was more than happy to get some distraction. We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the Village and I downed two Margharitas and told the captivated audience what male kittens tend to do when they are not happy.

Anyway, after dinner we went to see the movie.
And, well, for some movies you can easily find one word that describes them perfectly...

The story is quickly told: a wheelchair bound marine, Jake, takes over the job of his passed away brother on the moon Pandora which is depleted by a greedy corporation for its insanely valuable resource. To handle and understand the native Na'vi people, the job of Jake becomes linking with an "Avatar": an artifically created, perfect version of the Na'vi which he mind-links with and thus steers through the perilous and fantastic world of Pandora.
Being promised new legs if he provides intel of military value, Jake proves to be a natural in handling his Avatar and indeed successfully infiltrates the Na'vi. As little surprise, he first falls in love with their ways and their rich culture, and then with the girl who has taught him everything about them.
Things are getting ugly when the corporation drives out the Na'vi with massive military force, exposing Jake as the spy he originally was. As a matter of course, Jake takes the side of the natives and after re-earning their trust, he helps them taking back their lands and in the end becomes one of them.

Not really Pulitzer material, but I can live with simple stories. It's all about entertainment, right? And the special effects of Avatar are simply mind-boggling: the world Pandora and its inhabitants are very believable and it is pure lust to watch the imageworks on the screen. The 3D effects feel natural and not overdone. Very impressive!

So, the one word that perfectly describes Avatar is hence:
Really, ...
really...

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooring!

After 30 minutes special effects, you've had enough of it!
It's not the flat storyline. Maybe more the flat jokes and even more the hapless, pale actors (Sigourney Weaver doesn't cut it, either). It's also that there is simply no excitement - ever! - in this movie. No suspense, no heart-racing action, no thrill. And the Na'vi come across as a mix of stereotype American Indians and big, blue kittens. And given my recent experiences, I thought of cat litter everytime one of them moved their tail over the screen.
I hardly could wait for this movie to be over. The last time I had this was in The Incredible Hulk and before that in Spider-Man 3.

Okay: it might be worthwhile to go and see the movie just for the special effects, but while James Cameron created amazing pictures in the past (like Terminator, Aliens and of course Titanic), Avatar feels like a big, colorful balloon full of hot air...



... which smells like cat pee.