Now that’s over.
Like most film-fans, I’d been waiting with some anticipation for the return of Jim Cameron. Titanic aside, this was the man responsible for some of my best loved childhood movies (True Lies, Terminator 1 & 2 – what that says about my childhood, I’ll leave you to decide) and I was keen to see his famous temper fly with a new set of actors. Also, I was hoping for him to re-cast Michael Biehn in something. That man doesn’t get used enough. So after rumour upon rumour of a live-action remake of Battle Angel Alita, Mr Cameron throws a curveball and sends Avatar our way.Simultaneously, also working off the bat of one of highest grossing films of all time (hur hur), Christopher Nolan has decided to let us in on his new w
ork, Inception. Not much mind, the whole affair has been pretty hush hush, especially considering the dizzy heights reached by his last movie and therefore the increased interest. Despite the similarities these two directors have in regards to their previous films, the two couldn’t be travelling down more differing paths if they tried. Overall the sentiment leaked by both these films from the studios is that, in reward for their successes, they’ve been let off the leashes, allowed to take us to places only limited to their imaginations. I think that it’s incredibly interesting that, not only that two filmmakers are getting this extremely rare chance at the same time, but that we get chance to really see what these two personalities are really about.James Cameron’s latest Avatar trailer opens with Jake Sully, our protagonist, wheel-chair bound, being told of a great opportunity off world. Cue an incredibly detailed, awe provoking shot of said planet. A voiceover begins where Jake tells us of his desire for a cause ‘worth fighting for’, whilst we feast our eyes on some bizarre pastiche of Aliens and the Lion King. In case you couldn’t see where this story is heading, some very nice military men are present to bring us up to speed. This planet is Pandora, it has floaty rocks and the local people, the 10 foot tall, bright blue, not the most realistic looking Na’vi, are pretty darn tough to kill apparently. This is unfortunate because they live on top of a resource which the military find very lucrative. What are the chances eh? So what’s the military’s plan? Well, they’re going to let Jake take control of a genetically engineered version of a Na’vi and send him in to infiltrate the camp. Apparently doing this will ensure that Jake gets his real legs back. From here things get a bit Dances with Wolves and Jake becomes accepted as one of the tribe, choosing them over the military. What’s made him decide this? Well, there is love involved, presented to us using some shots very reminiscent of the ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’ scene in the Lion King – this time with bigger cats’ eyes. From here on out, we witness battle scenes akin to the Ewoks vs the Imperial Guard from Return of the Jedi, but with both sides jacked up a notch. In fact, the military here seem like a direct evolution from the destructive force from Apocalypse Now. After some confusion in the middle of the trailer as to which side Jake is playing for, the trailer ends with confirmation that he is with the Na’vi. Cut to title. End.
Summing up the Inception trailer is much easier. For a start it’s barely a minute long and, unless the movie is just a collection of unrelated images, it gives nothing away to its plot. Opening with the sort of themed adaption of the Warner Brothers’ logo that we’ve come to expect with its high profile projects, Inception takes place in a big city – looking quite similar to the Dark Knight’s Gotham. A spinning top spins, Leonardo DiCaprio looks out of a helicopter window, Cillian Murphy (at least, I think it’s him) gets dragged away, gravity goes a bit weird, Joesph Gordon Levitt (*sigh*) runs at some one, Leo looks at the skyline, gravity continues to be odd, Joseph Gordon Levitt continues wrestling in said gravity, Leo wakes up, titles appear in an overhead view of a city. That’s pretty much it. I don’t think I’ve left anything out, though, given the cryptic nature of the trailer, if I have, it may just unlock the whole puzzle. Joking aside, it doesn’t reveal much but it has mystery to it. Overall, it is a very enticing trailer.
It has been greatly amusing and also surprising to read the quotes from the respective filmmakers about their projects. Both of them are shaping the direction that Hollywood films are heading down, even if James Cameron is the only one shouting about it. Despite all of Avatar’'s grandiose designs on representing the future in how blockbusters look and its grotesque budget ($500mil anyone?), it’s actually the more intimate project. Cameron has deliberately kept the sizes of his crew small in order to keep ‘consistency’1 with the work. Even on the current hot topic of 3D in cinemas, Nolan agrees that it is more ‘intimate’.2 Ironically, a $500 million film is James Cameron’s idea of a personal project, where as a small, intelligent film coming off the success of the Dark Knight, represents ‘grandeur’ and a ‘larger than life’ approach to filmmaking.3
Quality wise, there is no contest between these trailers. With respect to Mr. Cameron, his desperate attempts at ‘photorealistic’ images have really disappointed here. Sure, when looking at any shot of Avatar, your breath can be taken away quite easily with the amount of detail crafted into each landscape, however, compared to the detail of an IMAX camera, it looks nothing but cheap and, more importantly, fake. I personally cannot submerge myself into this world because it never suspends my disbelief. Considering that Cameron has been away for so long working on this film, the Na’vi themselves look beneath anything Pixar has put out during the last 5 years. However, after years of supporting Nintendo over Microsoft, Sega and Sony (I think I was one of the only people in my town with a Gamecube), I’m well versed in the argument that looks aren’t everything; in fact my main issue with Avatar is far more fundamental.
After Titanic, James Cameron has effectively been give free licence to make whatever he wants. Whatever story fascinated him, held his attention, made his imagination fly, he could bring to the screen and not one executive at any studio would have stood in his way. He chooses to bring Avatar – what does this say about him? Granted, I have not seen the film, but based on the information presented in interviews, soundtrack listings and the trailer, this looks like a bland and insipid motion picture. For all his attempts to present it as high art (3 hour running time), it looks just as shallow as any Michael Bay robot destruct-a-thon. One feels that, although like Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, the level of hype is set so high that Avatar could not possibly live up to it, it wouldn’t hurt if it didn’t look so rushed. To me, the attitude that the trailer gives off is one of indifference. I’m well aware this is not the case, but in my mind I could quite easily picture James Cameron spending the majority of his 10 year sabbatical playing video games and then suddenly remembering that he had to make another film – which is my only explanation as to why this film looks so much like Halo.
My feelings looking at Inception are quite different. Here we have a filmmaker at the very top of his game, presenting us with a story that he obviously wants to tell. More importantly, he can tell us it in a way such that we want to hear it. Herein lays the difference. Christopher Nolan has our appetites whetted and he knows it. By forcing himself and his cast into a vow of silence, he is actually trying to make the film itself a new experience – something that Avatar desperately wants to be. By the time Avatar comes out, all its secrets will no doubt have been revealed to be not very spectacular at all, whereas Inception will be an enigma. This is of course only my two cents, but come December 18th, I’ll be surprised if people are queuing up to see anything more than big battle scenes, predictable storylines and hammy acting, all in “glorious” 3D.
1) http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31191
2) http://www.collider.com/entertainment/article.asp/aid/8567/cid/13/tcid/1
3) Ibid.
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