The happiest place on earth just became a little less joyful in my book.
I was not amongst the millions of people to plopped down $18 per ticket in order to make “Avatar” the highest grossing film of all-time. I waited until my dad got the film on Netflix and watched it on our 28-inch Sony tube television in a measly two dimensions. Over two hours later my suspicions were confirmed — the film was drastically overrated. “Avatar” was nothing more than a mainstream artistic endeavor made on a computer.
The Academy of Film Arts and Sciences agreed that James Cameron’s film lacked a certain substance, and they rewarded his ex-wife with Oscar glory, while his film took home a paltry $2 billion at the box office.
Now it seems Cameron’s insufferably simple minded parable on colonization and imperialism is going to become a trilogy. However the worst news is that Disney World plans on creating a theme park in the likeness of Pandora.
Disney said it plans to build multiple-attraction lands based on the film’s fictional world of “Pandora,” including themed shops, restaurants, rides and entertainment. It’s the same approach Universal Orlando has taken with its wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which has fueled huge attendance and guest-spending gains since opening in Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park last year.
“Avatar is just a set of worlds that is really rich and offers so much to explore, we thought that offering a land-based approach gives us a much better opportunity to explore,” Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs said in an interview following the announcement.
Disney said it would begin construction of Animal Kingdom’s Avatar land in 2013 and expects to open it to guests about five years from now. A company executive indicated that the price tag would be approximately $500 million.
Cameron said he initially thought Disney would want to build only an individual ride based on his film.
“I quickly realized that their vision for this thing is far beyond what I imagined,” he told reporters. “It was kind of thrilling that they wanted to do a land and really bring the world of Pandora to life.”
This entire project has made me lose some respect for Disney World, a place I thought could do no wrong, a place where dreams come true. I’ve never dreamed of being a giant blue person, it doesn’t seem appealing. But more importantly, this is Disney’s lame attempt to duplicate the success Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter has had since its opening.
What they haven’t realized, as the the Orlando Sentinel helped point out, is that although a lot of people flocked to the theaters to see “Avatar,” there isn’t the same emotional connection to the subject matter that Harry Potter fans have. The Harry Potter series of books and films spanned over a decade and multiple generations of people. Avatar was just another popcorn flick, albeit a rather a good one. Harry Potter is a lifestyle.
September 22, 2011 at 2:02 pm, Sandylunchen said:
this is an awful article, the guy sounds bitter
September 22, 2011 at 2:26 pm, Kevin Clay 217 said:
Just because you personally disliked the film doesn’t mean you can discredit an endeavor such as the theme park (which sounds like it would be both an enjoyable and rewarding experience for actual fans of the movie). And let it be said that as important a storyline is to a movie, the movie-viewing experience is important as well. You indeed missed out on “experiencing” this film and by doing so, slightly invalidated your opinion. By not seeing it in 3D (the way it was meant to be shown) or at least on the big screen, you didn’t truly see this film. Sorry.
September 22, 2011 at 3:08 pm, Funkybuddhatapia said:
you are a dickhead who needs to get laid! Yes Avatar is a pop corn flick, but that’s the point. There are millions of people who subscribe to the notion style over substance when it comes to film making. You state the obvious when you be little the plot, we know its not the bible. But this film is about style and technique, which are trail blazing and amazing. You are a grumpy film bigot!
September 22, 2011 at 3:46 pm, Peter Sabol said:
ICK!
September 22, 2011 at 6:05 pm, Bill B. said:
Other than Jake Sully, I honestly can’t name another character, can’t hum the theme song to Avatar, Can’t think of a restaurant from the film that Disney plans to create, have no idea what merchandise unique to the film will fill the shelves of the gift shops…seems like expanding the Star Wars area of DHS would’ve paid bigger dividends.
September 22, 2011 at 8:24 pm, Outtatheblu said:
Easily one of the worst articles I’ve read as of late. I saw Avatar first in 3D and then on IMAX 3D. It is my favourite movie of all time, solely because of what it has done for modern film making. The story isn’t all that special, the acting was marginal (although good considering how much of the actor’s facial expressions were able to transfer to the CGI versions of themselves), but it was the experience that made this movie the highest grossing of all time.
I own a couple hundred DVD’s; I buy them often as I love having the wide variety of movies to choose from on a rainy night in. I own nearly every movie that I want to own. And yet, I didn’t but Avatar, despite it being my favourite. Reason being, I don’t even want to see Avatar in 2D, because you’re really only seeing a fraction of what this film is about.
I agree with Kevin Clay 217; you haven’t seen Avatar. Have fun with your Harry Potter books, Matt, and take comfort in the fact that your virginity will remain intact for at least another year or two, until you finally decide to make the move out of your parent’s basement after you turn 30.
September 23, 2011 at 9:29 am, Contessaoz said:
LOL. I’m not a fan of neither Avatar. Common, not much of a storyline there. It is a popcorn flick, I agree. It might be cool and wasome for the yet young and unexperienced minds but I think most have grown up untill the Avatat parks stands there.
Not a fan of Harry Potter either but its for kids and families so I understand the idea of the theme park. and it seems to going well still.
So overall I agree with this article
September 25, 2011 at 3:51 pm, Kalniete said:
I agree. A big, shiny and vacuous movie. Big, but empty. What we get is generic filmmaking, generic love story, generic political message, generic music, generic pantheistic let’s-forget-our-materialistic-world-feels-so-good-to-be-one-with-the-tribe crap. It’s a generic film, and there are tooons of generic films, and they don’t deserve such hate. They could be good to pass the time. But please, it’s soooo far from a masterwork. Don’t listen to the critics.
And style over substance could be great, just look at Tarantino movies : whaouh, what a style! And some of them have substance too, but that’s not even necessary when you see his films, you’re guaranteed to be blown away anyway. Avatar doesn’t have style. It is totally generic, and by that I mean that I’ve already seen it a thousand times while watching other movies, and so it is totally boring.