How Avatar and Magic Mike are the Same Movie
Yup, you read that right. I’m convinced that Avatar and Magic Mike (and their sequels) are all basically the same movie. Let me explain.
Do you remember the plots of the Magic Mike movies? Yeah, me neither.
Here’s why.
The Magic Mike movies were all about spectacle. The basis of these movies was “who cares about things like story telling when there are half a dozen fit guys undulating in your face.” That’s literally what the movies are about. Now this does change very slightly in Magic Mike 3 where there was actually a semblance of a story, but even the sex scenes were boring in that one so who cares.
Even without things like a strong story or good writing, Magic Mike still came and did exactly what it said it would do.
At the time, it was a fun enough movie to go out and watch with your girlfriends. Watching it used minimal brain power and you’d forget about it soon after. It definitely didn’t add to the great stories handed down through the generations, but it did a decent enough job of keeping you somewhat entertained the first time you watched it.
Honestly, Magic Mike 1, 2, and 3 were some crappy movies, but they weren’t made to be good. They were here to be a spectacle.
But what about a spectacle the whole family can enjoy…
This brings us to the Avatar series (blue people, not benders.) These movies were beautiful. So beautiful in fact that there is no denying the vast majority of their budget went towards captivating us with bright, shiny colors, and exotic, alien creatures. Is that really much different from undulating, scantily clad men? If you strip away (haha) the beautiful scenery, what you’re left with is a vague story. And the story isn’t even original. Are you familiar with FernGully: The Last Rainforest?
Tell me if this sounds familiar…
Ferngully is a beautiful and untamed rainforest, untouched by humans that are only known in myths. That is until the lumber company comes. A guy working for a lumber company accidentally becomes shrunk by a fairy as she tries to save his life, catapulting him into an adventure where he has to learn more about the fantastical creatures around him, and stop the bad guy humans from polluting Ferngully and destroying it. It’s a really good story actually, but if you swap out fairy wings for blue paint and tails, you have Avatar.
But back to the point of the matter, the real reason people watch Avatar isn’t for the story, it’s because it cost 237 million USD to make the first one and 460 million USD to make The Way of Water. They spent all that money and granted, came up with an amazing visual spectacle, but it still somehow felt superficial. After leaving the theater, the main thing on our minds was how beautiful the movie was.
All I’m saying is both these franchises capitalized on visual spectacle to get people into the theaters (or on streaming services) instead of storylines and strong writing. It may not be a comparison you’ve lent much thought to before, but I think it’s a fun one. And really, when you think about it, is there really much of a difference between a spectacle of blue aliens and the spectacle of bulgy dancing?
