| rocketpig said: The Colonel had me convinced that he was pretty much R Lee Ermey. Funny, but completely one-dimensional and too predictable. It would have been nice to see him show just a little more depth to the character. But it was pretty damned funny to see him kick down that door when they're leaving the base. Anyone who has seen the movie knows what I'm talking about. Even if Cameron had shown a little more depth to Giovanni Ribisi's character, I would have let the "crazy military Colonel" character slide. I just thought that the "enemies" were far too cookie-cutter and SOMEONE should have shown some doubt before committing genocide, as most educated and reasonable people would in that situation. It didn't seem reasonable to me at all. Everyone just kind of got in line and watched it all go down. |
I agree with your points - and I did love the scene with the door. Credit to Lang, his character was one dimensional, but he made that scene work because he made me believe he really would kick a door down in those circumstances if someone dared to cross him.
It's just a pity that Cameron so often stoops to sterotypes and crowd pleasing ones at that. He knows people will dislike the corporate weasel and refuses to make him more than a cliche, same with Lang's commander. It's like how in Titanic he knows average joe's want to see the working class folk portrayed as intrinsicly 'better' than the rich, and plays shamlessly to audience bias.
Still, he knows how to construct basic story and he is a damn good director. I just wish he'd raise his sights beyond the basic when it comes to the details of his narratives and his characters.
But compared to real cinematic tripe, Avatar at least had a clear narrative, and a 'mostly' consistent theme, so I agree with as far from bad, but not nearly as good as it could have been either.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
