Sunday 14 November 2010

Avatar and Snowman

Film
I’d forgotten I’d ordered the DVD of Avatar. Did I really want to watch a teenagers’ sci fi film, I wondered, however many Oscars it had won and even if it had grossed more than Titanic? Well, Sigourney Weaver is in it, of course, and actually it was rather good, though too long. Plot is that baddy military people from Earth have invaded a distant planet because it has huge deposits of a precious mineral but the peaceful locals don’t like the soldiers. (Geddit?) The vaguely human-looking locals, the Na’vi, are extra tall, blue and beautiful, and the forests are full of strange, mostly frightening creatures. The blue people plug their tails into plants in order to communicate with them, as you do. (We understand that the Na'vi represent Native American Indians and similar aboriginal people as they use bows and arrows.) The goody Earth scientists have infiltrated the Na’vi by creating look-alike avatars and wandering around in these blue avatar bodies while their own bodies lie in a scanner. Hope you are with me so far. Anyway despite the over-lengthy battles, I actually enjoyed the film and recommend it as family entertainment for anyone over 7 and under 70 - young children might find it too scary and the older viewer too StarTrekky. I’m told it’s best in 3D - the special effects are terrific. I expect everybody except me saw it months ago.

Recent Reading
Just finished The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. It’s about a serial killer and I confess I worked out who dunnit fairly early on, but then began to doubt. It’s a clever intricate book and, having once visited Oslo, I was able to recognise some of the setting. Will I read any more Jo Nesbo? No, though it was gripping in parts, inevitably there were too many degrading violent killings for my liking. Also your granny might not approve of the somewhat joyless adultery. I don’t really go for police-based crime fiction, come to think of it. If you do, you’ll probably like it.

5 comments:

Elizabeth Chadwick said...

I watched Avatar last week Susie and am going to add it to my DVD collection - mainly for the glorious special effects. I want to walk on Pandora. I wish it was real! The script is predictable. Basically it's Pocahontas on another planet, but still enjoyable for all that. My husband actually stopped what he was doing to watch it. I understood the plugging in bit. We can do it on this earth (sans a pony tail) if our minds are attuned.

Jan Jones said...

I thoroughly enjoyed Avatar as well, Susie, having seen it in 3D.

Yes, the plot was predictable, but beautiful to watch and I thought nicely acted too.

Being a fantasy reader (amongst other things), I had no problems with the telepathic 'plugging in'

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but my children insist that I should, so maybe I'd better do so at some point.

Susie Vereker said...

Yes, I thought it was a v. good film of its type. I didn't mind the fantasy, just the length of the battles and the swooping about made me restive.

Jenny Beattie said...

Oh dear; it's a terrible failing of mine that the minute I see aliens I just switch off. I really can't be persuaded even for the effects.