Lots of people make the mistake of assuming that James Cameron's movies will be undone by their threadbare plots. Then they see the movies.
Cameron is among the best action filmmakers ever. The thing about action is not so much that it has no plot -- one heck of a lot happens in a James Cameron movie, and it tends to be quite logical and internally consistent too, because the guy keeps obsessive track of every damn thing. The problem is that a good action movie's plot can't be described in words. You sort of have to be there. The individual events -- guns jamming, doors sliding, lights flashing -- just don't add up to much by themselves. It's like trying to describe the Taj Mahal by talking about one brick at a time.
James Cameron can do a lot with three apparent cliches. Provided he also has several hundred million dollars. ;)
it tends to be quite logical and internally consistent too, because the guy keeps obsessive track of every damn thing
Hmm, one rather glaring oversight was that Michelle Rodriguez mutinies during the attack on Hometree and doesn't end up in the brig with the other traitors. The plot hinges on this, and no explanation was given.
Another is that Jake Sully is only there because his brother's Avatar was so expensive that it's still worth taking 5 years to ship it to Pandora even without a trained operator, yet 3 months later the same company says "fuck it, let's just shoot them".
Which is not to say it isn't beautiful to look at, but the script is really inconsistent.
Cameron is among the best action filmmakers ever. The thing about action is not so much that it has no plot -- one heck of a lot happens in a James Cameron movie, and it tends to be quite logical and internally consistent too, because the guy keeps obsessive track of every damn thing. The problem is that a good action movie's plot can't be described in words. You sort of have to be there. The individual events -- guns jamming, doors sliding, lights flashing -- just don't add up to much by themselves. It's like trying to describe the Taj Mahal by talking about one brick at a time.
James Cameron can do a lot with three apparent cliches. Provided he also has several hundred million dollars. ;)