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proneblocked (9)
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Most importantly - it's the second movie.
I'll give you an example. Imagine - you're holding a pigeon in your hands. And your friends make bets where the pigeon will land. One says the tree, the other one says postbox, the other one says it will fly far away, another one says it wont fly anywhere.
Whatever the pigeon does, only one guy will be right and win the bet. All others, what they thought would happen, will be dissatisfied and unhappy.
It's the same with every single movie and every single video game. First release is always shock and awe. People are captured.
And then they start speculating, day dreaming and planning themselves what the second movie should be. According to themselves, their life experiences, their losses in life, their life lessons. They all want their life experience to be materialised in the second movie.
So I think James Cameron turned the movie according to himself. There's a bit of old father figure that goes soft (as a man) because of his family. There's a bit of tribe leader pressure, with stakes on his head. There's a bit of ocean exploring hobby from Cameron himself. There's a bit of environment saving stuff. There's a lot of "women generals" and "men are idiots" and they don't know what they're doing. If you dissect the movie step by step, you'll realise what an unbelievable amount of things are crammed into it.
The Matrix - amazing movie. Look how disappointed people were with the second and third. I loved the 2nd and 3rd. It's just...the cat is out of the bag with the 1st. It's no longer yours (as a director/writer). And that is the problem.
I do agree - they could've given more compelling reason for Jake to go to sea people, because seeing him flee like that looked a bit pathetic. Just slightly more meat to it.
But on the other hand - if you were truely in Jake's shoes, wouldn't you have done the same ? Maybe 20 years later, when you're older and have 3 kids or more, you'll understand the meaning of it.
I'll try to answer in full, I think you'll be sattisfied:
1. Jake saw ships land. Saw huge fires. He has no more intelligence. He has no idea that Earth is done. He has no idea what they're after. They just arrived, just like that. To outright attack them - would be carnage for near to no reason (yet). Nobody is coming to them, nobody is touching the tribe yet. Just skirmishes, some sort of guerilla warfare that the NaVi are easily winning.
2. Look how his sons talk. Military discipline, raised that way. Jake knew "skypeople" would come back. So he nervously prepared (them), it was a burden on him all along, all that time. And now he all of a sudden finds out his family is the primary target. That would shake your boots, wouldn't it ?
3. You mentioned (later post) duality. Yes, Jake became soft. Family is his weakspot. It's a thing the enemy can "squeeze". So he tries to remove them from the firing line. At the same time, it doubles as "protection" for the whole clan, drawing away fire from the whole population.
It also wastes enemy's time.
Family man vs military man. What's more important ? How do you sort out the priorities ? Maybe there's "the min-max, most effective way possible" somewhere in there ? That's what Jake tries to do, with that cards he's been given.
4. After the first hostage situation, it becomes clear to him (he still doesnt know about Earth), that they're after him.
He's the only one who can unite the peoples of the planet. Last time, he even used the whole planet against "skypeoples".
He realises why there's a top mark on his head and his family. He's important, he's the "link".
He also realises that he cannot "unite" the peoples + Aiwa just for his selfish protection. That would not happen.
adding to:
3) I did, like you, feel like such decision is the weakness of the plot. But in all essence it shows how in tune Sully is with his selfless attitude, and how much he loves his family. On top of that, he cannot ask the whole clan to protect him and fight for his own fur, that would be even more out of place.
4) You forget, that they don't know if he's "with his people", if "he's taking a dump somewhere in the forest" or if "he's running around the planet gathering forces".
What they do know, is that he's the biggest threat and very dangerous, he's like a "link" that combines the whole resistance of Aiwa.
Also, the new Marine Avatar program was created for this purpose. So everything stands into place - Sully still alive, still dangerous, Marines have an objective, and they go for it.
Fog of war is the answer.
5) A spontaneous event changed things. That is visible in the movie.
And a reinforcing argument, again - they're outnumbered not only by indigenous people, they're outnumbered by the whole planet. In such situations you hold on to hostages for as long as you can, and you squeeze the enemy as much as you can through those hostages. If a massive whale is about to land on your head, I doubt you'll be standing there squeezing the trigger at some poor kid, you'll be moving away so the whale doesn't turn you into a new paintjob for the ship's deck.
6) He's alone against many. Left totally alone. Doesn't know where Sully's wife is. Sully is a huuuge threat. Might need to use Sully against her, to draw her out later. Who knows. Standard villain behavior -- full of themselves, they start reading death poetry instead of pulling the trigger. Looks very unrealistic, but you'd be surprised how often people do that IRL, not exactly like this, but in spirit - alike.
There were other things that were slightly more annoying than the way they twisted the plot, but once the movie finishes, it's clear - there's gonna be anotha one. And probably quite soon-ish.
Well:
1) Try looking into WW2, vastness and ingenuity of people of those times. Obscure, bizzare and often daredevil tactics were used on many occasions, often successfully by allies. Sending a marine squad to eliminate an enemy leader sounds like one of those things from WW2:
- making dummy tanks from balloons and plywood like allies did, to confuse the enemy
- crossing the same bridge twice - once in daytime, then returning those tanks in nightime, and then crossing that bridge AGAIN, so that spies and onlookers would think the army is twice the size (german army did this more than once)
- placing a dead body on the coast of Spain with "secret" documents, which said that "allies are gonna invade through Greece, not Italy. Spanish nazies redirected this information to germans, and germans put their bulk forces on Greece....Leaving Sicily and Italy quite open
Jake has made a great name for himself. Not just bows and arrows. Has the power to unify not only the NaVi population, he used the power of the whole planet. As an expeditionary force from a different planet, "skypeople" are forced to respect that. Their resources are limited. So they target the leader, in this case it's very wise to do so, and for more reasons why I described.
2) Marine was incompetent in "skypeople's" body. Now they give him a new body and the tactics and approach changes. And a new approach hasn't failed yet, if you haven't tried it yet.
3) Sully doesn't know how or when or where the colonization will start. Nothing is clear at that moment, Sully actually doesn't even know if it's a colonization, he has no info about Earth's fate or plans of the newly arrived "skypeople".
Sully sees a "hit squad" that is after him and his wife. He sees the monetary investment -- those are avatars...they cost. He realises the gravity of situation.
Sully also knows that it's both an advantage and a disadvantage, that they're only after him this time. Advantage, meaning, they wont kill his people in mass, they'll be only after him, so he can lure them away. Disadvantage - he'll be on the run, alone.
I am surprised people think he got shot.
Look at his wounds when they gather around. Those are grenade shrapnel wounds. Remember the scene when nades were flying back and forth ? Yep.
So even if you're a medic, a grenade landing nearby is mute to your rank/purpose as a soldier.
What you have to understand is -- Jessop is old. Not only that, he's a marine, he states it, heartily.
In his mind, he did not do a single thing wrong. Whatever the price, and that price was 1 life, he thinks he's saved the morale. You can add 50 more arguments of synonymous nature, and they will all point to - honor. However bad and vile that crime may be, it's sort of a makavelian idea - 1 life for the core/platoon/unit. It's a win in his eyes.
So when a pipsqueek lawyer, who has not gone through the gruesome life the colonel has...
Dares to shout at him.
Dares to ask about underware.
Dares to proposterously question him.
And then ... USES CHEAP TRICKS TO GET HIM TO SAY IT ?
Do you really think that after trying to attack the lawyer, he felt respect ?
No. That was not respect. That was deep deep hatred after being tricked.
The reason the colonel restrained himself, was because his "honor" kicked in, and he did not want to sink down to the lowest level, and to be dragged out of the court without dignity. Him picking up his headware from the ground signifies that.
Even though he's wrong, and got out of line, he's still a military man at heart, and he will hold his beliefs till the end.
After all, you cannot fake honor and military discipline up to the rank of a colonel. It becomes you, you become it, even though your rank allows you spontaneous freedoms and certain moments of weakness.
That is why colonel's characeter is SO believable in this movie. If you understand and can feel true honor, you still hold a slice of respect for the colonel. The colonel is in the same boat those 2 marines are -- they tried to follow orders "for the best" of their company and themselves. The colonel ordered the "red code" for "the best" of his whole base near cuba, and also for himself.
In movies, where you see colonels, generals...Who are beyond greed and look like pimps/drug_lords...It's less believable (with a *).
I hope they make 10 movies with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Watson on Sherlock holmes.
I could watch them endlessly. They glide.
3. Complacency in power.
Huge police force assigned to the job. The building is full of them. Helicopters are running around, seeing if anyone is trying to free Hannibal. Even FBI is present.
They all are doing protocols. Everything is going fine. Commaradory of sorts, everyone has each other's back.
They all have guns. Guns give false security to people, they feel very powerful and safe whilst wielding a gun.
Sum that all up. Against a single man, who looks like an aged professor, who is not too tall, and not too powerful.
4. No CCTV cameras ? Look at the time of the movie. Technology of security cameras is still somewhat primitive. Back in those days, if you want cameras - they have to be pre-installed and coordinated.
Look how fast it all happened. They're on the clock. Minutes matter. They even flew him out, they didnt transport him the usual way.
There's a billion officers in the building, looking after 1 person. One.
Cameras are most effective when a single man has to watch over A LOT OF space, which is not possible. Cameras make it possible.
And Hannibal is placed in the middle of a court. Huuge space around him. Lights are all on him. he's in a cage. I bet it looked impossible to escape from, even for the officers.
5. He's not the main suspect. He's the helper to catch a suspect. It brings everyone's subconscious level slightly down.
Yes, they're still alert, but they have no "taste" in his power, and he's not the main thing on their mind. Buffalo Bill is the main gravity point. Everyone's thoughts are on him.
Thanks for the question. Thinking about it made me realise how gruesome and well orchestrated that escape scene was. It was both "fictional" and covered it's tracks with "evidence" you can pick on, to make yourself believe in plausibility of it all.
It's a movie. Not a documentary. It's supposed to interract with your imagination, not your knowledge.
It's really easy to answer "realism" question in nearly any good movie.
1. Example: world has seen many wars. World War 2 was especially tragic and horrible. Touched every family in the world.
It's so unrealistic that people want to go to war nowadays -- not only the history tells us, we all know war means death. How is it possible, that with the way WW2 is documented and constantly reminded of, people romanticise and even want to go to war, nowadays ?
2. It is the only time you see Hannibal the Cannibal in action in the movie. It had to be spectacular and intense.
Even the guards that died were portrayed as friendly to Hannibal - they should've been safe, right ?
Complacency. Yes, they were informed that he's a monster. But you fail to get yourself into the situation.
- It's likely that it wasn't the first meal they brought to him. He acted politely. Nothing out of the ordinary.
- Look how limp his hands look when he allows the officer to put the handcuffs on.
- If you're the officer who's assigned to look after him - you're scared, but you dont know why. That makes you curious.
It brings me to another point - as you're curious and afraid, your mind looks for signs to either be afraid, or relax and investigate.
Hannibal does nothing but make you relax. Slow movements. Very polite. Calming music playing in the background. He's got panorama paintings. He's reading a book. He's well behaved and polite whilst doing that. Looks like a friendly-grandpa-like professor.
He's also helping out in catching a serial killer, which sort of places a thought in your head - that means there's a "contract" between two sides, and there should be fulfillment to it, it's sort of in an "awaiting for the other day" stage. It lulls the officer's guard down as well. And when should you strike ? When the guard is down and everyone is complacent.
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