Avatar Vs District 9
January 8th, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized — Movie Critic
Already a worldwide huge hit, the anticipated Avatar proved that it meets movie-goers anticipation and more. The success could come from the heavily CGI endorsed graphics, that immediately transported the viewers to the make-believe world of Pandora and have them immersed in its beautiful nature and colorful, quirky inhabitants. Or it could come from a sharp marketing scheme that sets it as the viral movie of the year, a must-see for everyone not wanting to be left out of the cool group.
Rewinding back several months before Avatar was released, another sci-fi movie, District 9 hit the big screen with the tagline ‘You are not welcome here’ referring to the earth population rejection of the invasion of aliens on earth. The aliens are affectionately called ‘prawns’ and were stranded in a slum area on earth after their spaceship broke down, waiting for the day they would return home. This movie is also, by standard of any sci-fi movie, saturated with CGI.
The similar theme for both movies would be the unification, or lack thereof, of natural residents and the ‘aliens’. The former focused on planet Pandora and humans are the feared enemies while the latter was based right in homeland with prawns being the outcast. In the writer’s opinion, Avatar probably wins hands down CGI-wise but the graphic in District 9 has a more realistic sense especially the part where the prawns seemed to blend in with the crowd on earth.
Two CGI laden movies with about the same setting but one movie hit it right on the jackpot. Apparently the movie is not District 9. So why does this happen, one might ask? Considering the theme and plot of the movie alone, the underlying answer would be that movie-goers nowadays wanted to watch movies as a tool of escapism; far from their hectic life, away from their problems and have an experience like never before.
Clearly, Avatar provides the very need of the today’s audience while District 9 that carried a heavy premise of political innuendos, something that most people would not even consider twice when buying that movie ticket. A sad fact but as one movie review pointed out, this decade is the start of a new exciting and promising evolution of the world of computer graphics movies. The blend of reality and fantasy only means up and coming movies will be bigger, more stunning and definitely beyond the world and above. As wild imaginations come to live, all is not lost.
