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Teaser: Avatar

The first teaser trailer for James Cameron’s forthcoming Avatar is up. I am unmoved.

It’s an incredibly dull “tease.” In full-on 3D it might come to life, though. It certainly attempts to have sweeping vistas, an entire epic feel, but I’m just left feeling “meh.”

Matters are made worse by what the trailer shows. You have a soldier in a wheelchair who is given the opportunity to remote operate an alien body, his “avatar.” They can grow an entire alien, complete with the necessary central nervous system, yet they can’t fix his original body? Can’t wait to hear the techno-babble explanation for that.

Humans can fly across vast expanses of space, yet can’t “nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure”? We’re reduced to fighting hand-to-hand, looking for all the world like Hollywood’s lasting image of Vietnam (door gunner hanging out of his helicopter, machinegun a-blaze…)?

I thought the reason for the avatars was because humans can’t work on planet Pandora (and ye gods, let’s telegraph our meaning with that name, shall we). Yet the trailer clearly shows humans, as humans, walking about on the planet’s surface, not to mention the fancy military mech gear. Hell, they’re not just working, they’re engaged in combat.

I confess, I am not a huge Cameron fan. I think his best film was one of his first, the original, the gritty, the raw and brutal, the ever-awesome Terminator (not the remake). Since then his obsession has been on effects and brilliantly staged action sequences, forsaking any notion of true human emotion or interaction.

Given that Avatar appears, in large measure, to be an alien love story, he’s running true to form.

Update: Vote an opinion on the trailer here. I don't know about the votes, but the comments I read aren't encouraging.

Update: Read a fawning commentary here. I say "fawning" because of the judicious editing of cinematic history used to puff up this film (completely fails to mention modern 3D cinema, e.g., Up). Sad, leaves me the distinct impression the film can't stand on its own. Is this The Abyss in 3D?

Update: An interesting essay, wondering whether District 9 has already upstaged Avatar.

Update: Kyle Smith saw the 20-minute 3D presentation and thinks the film will be a hit.

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