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Originally Posted by Exer
For those of you who didn't enjoy this movie strictly due to your opinion of it having a poor story, what sort of story do you think would have made the movie better? I'm honestly curious. I agree that the plot was a tale we've all heard before, but does that mean it is actually bad? Or does that mean perhaps it is simply a story of something that is likely to happen given a similar situation?
For example if Hollywood made another movie about a kid from a poor neighborhood becoming a sports star and getting into trouble with drugs and various crimes before finally getting his life together -- is that a "poor" story because it's been done before, or simply a sad tale of something that happens much too often.
SPOILERS BELOW read with caution.
I, for one, thought the story was pretty believable. The "story", not necessarily the characters. The "story" of a corporation doing whatever it has to secure a natural resource of vast monetary value. The "story" of said corporation letting no obstacle (including indigenous peoples) stand in its way.
I also found the entire military aspect believable, because keep in mind the whole military operation was more of a mercenary outfit, rather than a professional "army". This was more "Blackwater" than it was "The Marines". These folks were there strictly for profit, is it any wonder they were so brutal in their efforts to secure it?
But yeah, I am curious to hear what new story, or what plot changes would have made it a more enjoyable experience for some of you folks.
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They can transport a consciousness into a genetically engineered 9 foot tall cat-Smurf, they can travel years and years in stasis to Pandora, and these technologically superior humans can't make a synthetic version, or think of a better name for 'unobtainium'? That's the major plothole that you see in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film. The first thing any script-doctor would have seen and made notes upon, but Cameron is too big and the project was too big for that kind of interference.
No a story doesn't have to be radically different to be good. Most stories are exactly the same at the heart:
The retelling of a journey from want or need, through obstacle, toward satisfaction or disappointment.
I didn't have any sense of Want or Need from the first hour of the film (it might have come later).
Here's a few things that annoyed me specifically about this story (the hour that I saw of it before walking out):
1. The protagonist was weakly motivated to begin with. Wheelchair-guy 'lucked' into the assignment rather than wanting the assignment. Okay, so maybe later on he becomes 'activated' to the cause of the Cat-smurfs, and awakens from apathy to fight the good fight, but it's dull to begin wtih and by minute fifteen I don't give a shit about him or what he wants, and I can barely remember his name.
2: The goal of mining 'unobtainium' is a ridiculous goal for a people who can transport consciousness, travel in spaceships and survive five years of stasis. I did not believe this for one second and it took me right away from any story that was being told.
3. Once wheelchair-guy fights the Four-legged Rancor monster we're fully into cartoonland and from this moment on I started losing interest altogether. He's stumbling around like an idiot and he's scared and then he's fighting some cadaver-dogs with a firestick and then Cat-smurf-Pochahontas shows up and is distracted by a silver Dandelion spore on the end of her....well this was the point, or not long after where I couldn't stand it anymore.