Film Name: 阿凡达 / Avatar
Drawn by the countless accolades—such as “masterpiece,” “unsurpassable,” and “superbly breathtaking”—and the fame of director James Cameron, I went to see “Avatar.” So what did I think? I suppose the “divine” aspect lies in its unparalleled realism of visual effects. The ‘unsurpassable’ quality stems from the perfect world of Pandora meticulously crafted through immense time, effort, and resources. And the “superbly breathtaking” moments are those Hollywood-style grand spectacles—chases, escapes, battles, and rituals—executed with masterful directorial skill.
But is filmmaking merely about piling on special effects? Is crafting a great movie simply about building a world detailed enough to fill an encyclopedia, or masterfully arranging grand spectacles? No, it’s not. The core of “Avatar” lies in its reversal. After Jack becomes an Avatar, what defines his character? What fears lurk within him? What dark sides does he possess? Sadly, I saw none of this. Instead, I witnessed yet another flawless hero. The “Titanic Quartet” I’d hoped would truly shake my soul never materialized, leaving me disappointed.
If we’re talking grand scenes, the falling tree and the ceremony beneath the Tree of Souls likely stand out. I admit the moment the tree fell was genuinely breathtaking. But why do these scenes feel so familiar? Didn’t Hayao Miyazaki depict a similar tree collapse at the end of Princess Mononoke a decade ago? When the boar god’s head was severed, it toppled like Mount Tai, unleashing catastrophic destruction upon the creatures below. And didn’t Miyazaki depict a similar ritual scene beneath the Soul Tree twenty years ago in the finale of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind? Back then, countless mother worms extended their long tendrils to envelop people, much like the Soul Tree’s hanging branches—both possessing the power to heal and save lives. That the two major scenes Cameron spent so long crafting trace their origins to the imagination of this Japanese animation master is, frankly, a bit of a letdown.
Finally, if I may nitpick, Cameron built his perfect world to create an epic masterpiece. Yet to truly achieve epic status, beyond world-building and grand spectacles, another essential element is a strategy brimming with wisdom. The final battle between the Avatars and the human forces featured nothing but a terrain-based ambush—no real strategy whatsoever. Worse still, they needlessly sacrificed numerous ground cavalry units. While the climactic fight delivered on scale, brutality, and intensity, it sorely lacked strategic ingenuity. “Avatar” falls short of true epic status precisely because it lacks the unique tactical warfare of a primitive tribe.
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