Hating Avatar Is Popular, But I’m Excited For Frontiers of Pandora

It seems impossible to imagine a world where most people don’t care about Avatar. James Cameron’s sci-fi story is still the most financially successful movie ever, but I think because of that, it’s earned a dedicated group of folk who refuse to give it the time of day.

Honestly, I actually understand where they’re coming from. From an artistic perspective, the only thing Avatar has going for it is the technology powering its visuals. The story, characters, and writing are just… meh. When Ubisoft announced Frontiers of Pandora, the resounding reaction from most people was a shrug and a “Who cares?”

Well, I’m here to say that I care, and I’m tired of pretending like I don’t.

Related: Will Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Be on Xbox One PlayStation 4?

In some regards, I think Avatar has almost become the movie version of Nickelback. In recent years, there’s been a reclamation of what some people are calling “Dad Rock” because for the last 20 years, Nickelback has been the butt of so many a musical joke. They were looked down upon for nebulous reasons that no one could actually agree upon. Seriously, if you asked anyone why they hated Nickelback, the odds were that they’d say something along the lines of, “They’re generic” or “They’re annoying.” Not exactly clear criticism and points that, frankly, could be made about any musician who’s not Carley Rae Jepsen, whom I have no choice but to stan.

Avatar Isn’t Great – But It Doesn’t Deserve the Hate

No, the reason Nickelback was so hated was because that’s what circulated around the forums of pop culture. People disliked Nickelback because they were told that they should dislike Nickelback. If they didn’t, then their taste was called into question, as if the idea of someone’s music preferences had some kind of impact on who they were as a person.

To some extent, I think the same is true of Avatar. Again, I’m not defending the movies as some of the best film ever made. I do think they are, if you’ll excuse the repetition, generic. And I damn well adore those two movies because, man, have you seen them? They are drop-dead gorgeous, and even though they don’t really have anything else going for them, being transported to a strange world like Pandora with such convincing CGI is well worth the price of admission.

Related: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Release Date Revealed with 6-Minute Na’vi Gameplay Video

I’m excited for Frontiers of Pandora, the upcoming Avatar game, because, more than anything, it has potential. More potential than a Far Cry set in the United States or a Watch_Dogs set in London. If we’re talking about the standard Ubisoft formula of open-world games, why not set it somewhere alien, a place that’s brimming with strange plants to harvest and creatures to fight? Ubisoft has slipped into a pattern -that much is definitely true – but I’m hopeful that Avatar could be the creative potential they need to push past the safety net of Men With Guns in [Insert Country]. Sure, it’s not a true leap of faith given the brand recognition of Avatar, but I’m genuinely hoping that something greater comes out of Frontiers of Pandora: A sense of escapism that’s been sadly lacking in many of Ubi’s recent games.

Look, it also helps that I’m an optimist, and I do genuinely enjoy Avatar. Aside from the Na’vi, who I still think look uncomfortably like the Blue Man Group staged an unfortunate iteration of Cats, Pandora is brimming with discoveries. It’s all just weird, and it’s helped by the universal theme of rising up and overthrowing oppressors. Everyone can identify with that motif, even if it’s not necessarily done as much justice in Avatar as something more grounded in reality. That’s fine – it doesn’t need to be realistic. Sometimes, all a story needs to be is fun.

Avatar has plenty of that to spare. Giant mech suits, lizard-dragon things that bond to their passengers for life, and even a mineral with a stupid name like Unobtainium – it sounds like something ripped out of the imagination of a 10-year-old. And that is absolutely perfect because, you know what – 10-year-olds are dumb, but, man, do they have some active imaginations. If you hate Avatar for not being a good movie, I think you’ve missed the point. It’s about having some fun in a startlingly realistic alien world and enjoying a compelling, if rote, David vs. Goliath tale.

I’m not entirely sure what the point of this article is, if I’m being honest. Expecting people on the internet not to hate something without a reason is like expecting the sun not to rise tomorrow morning. I suppose it’s just a shout-out to my fellow Avatar fans that are also quietly excited for Frontiers of Pandora. Even if it’s a disappointment, just know that it’s okay to be optimistic about stuff, even if most people don’t think you should care.