Avatar | Review
It had been over ten years since writer-director James Cameron’s last film when ‘Avatar’ was finally released. Cameron’s film before ‘Avatar’, ‘Titanic’, became the highest-grossing film of all time, and is one of the most famous and memorable films of all time. ‘Titanic’ allowed James Cameron to practically proclaim himself as “King of the World,” and the hype surrounding ‘Avatar’ made it highly possible for him to do it again, and it did. ‘Avatar’ beat out ‘Titanic’ as the highest-grossing film of all time (albeit the added price of 3D tickets had a major part in that). Did ‘Avatar’ live up to, or deserve, its hype?Yes and no. On a technological scale, ‘Avatar’ lived up to its hype. James Cameron executed the motion-capture animation effects amazingly, and the beautiful world he created in the film looks realistic. Story-wise, not so much.
The film takes place in the year 2154 where Earth is apparently dying. The humans have been studying a lush and beautiful Earth-like moon, called Pandora, that revolves around a gaseous planet in a distant star system. Pandora contains a precious mineral, called Unobtainium, that the humans want and apparently need to survive; a character in the film tells us that Unobtainium sells for “20 million a kilo.” As the human scientists are studying the Pandora natives, the Na’vi, and trying to find a diplomatic solution to convincing the Na’vi to relocate and give up their supply of Unobtainium, military forces are sent in preparation for an inevitable armed battle.
Ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington from ‘Clash of the Titans’) is the hero of the film. His twin brother was one of the scientists studying the Na’vi before he was killed in a robbery. The Avatar program now needs Jake because his genome (or whatever) matches his brother’s, which is important because an expensive avatar had been created for Jake’s brother. An avatar is human-Na’vi hybrid body that is controlled by genetically-matched humans via some sort of mental link. These avatar bodies are what allows the scientists to interact and learn about the Na’vi on Pandora.
While wandering on Pandora in his avatar body, Jake ends up separated from the group and eventually encounters a native Na’vi, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana from ‘The Terminal’ & ‘Star Trek’). Neytiri is a brave and bold individual who ends up saving Jake’s life from Pandora’s wildlife. The story leads to Neytiri training Jake in the ways of the Na’vi, and throughout the training sequence is where we get some of the best shots and impressions of Pandora.
In ‘Avatar’ we get to see the beauty of Pandora both during daylight and nighttime. During the day the planet is full of bright, vivid colors and beautiful wildlife. At night the wildlife becomes a dark forest with beautiful neon glows. The flora and fauna of Pandora is just amazing. I applaud James Cameron for his visionary depiction of this planet. Every plant and animal depicted on Pandora has a life and history of its own. Cameron obviously put a lot of thought in the creation of this new planet. Although its humorous, I respect and love Cameron’s decision in making all of Pandora and its wildlife connected by a network of hair-like extensions. It’s a beautiful concept. As for the Na’vi, they looked unappealing before I saw the film. “Tall, slender, feral-like blue aliens” is basically how you would describe a Na’vi. However, once the film is seen, their grace and beauty makes an impression.
Although the visuals and technological innovations of ‘Avatar’ are exceptional, plot-wise it’s average at best. Its story is cliche and predictable, and practically been-there-done-that. The idea of star-crossed lovers had already been used in Cameron’s previous film, ‘Titanic’. The story is too simple, and fits more a summer blockbuster rather than a winter-time flick. Essentially, ‘Avatar’ is a revamped, futuristic version of ‘Pocahontas’: Two main characters from two different, conflicting worlds; they meet and fall in love; one character switches sides. This all leads up to the predictable, but still visually and emotionally stunning, third act that involves an all-out brawl between the Pandora natives and the human aliens.
As for the writing of ‘Avatar’, it’s also average. For the most part, the dialogue spoken by the characters within the film are passable, though sometimes dumb and cliche as heck (for example, “Watch out hot rod,” or “Freaking daisy-cutters!” Really, who says that?). James Cameron wrote the script for ‘Avatar’, and even though he’s an okay writer (at least he’s not as bad of a writer as Shyamalan), he’s a better director.
The acting in the film is above-average and passable. Sam Worthington does fine as the lead, and the fact that he was essentially an unknown actor at the time of ‘Avatar’s’ release makes his character more believable. Zoe Saldana is great as the other lead, Neytiri. The standout actors to me, however, are Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, and Stephen Lang and their portrayal of Dr. Grace Augustine, Trudy, and Colonel Quaritch, respectively. Grace and Trudy were the most likable characters in the film, with Grace’s love and respect for the Na’vi and their continued peaceful existence, and Trudy’s disgust of the terrorizing of the Na’vi and her loyalty to the main characters. Stephen Lang’s Colonel Quaritch is the unintentionally humorous antagonist of the film. He’s a mighty brute and will take a hefty beating before he stands down. Whenever Quaritch goes around shooting and whatnot in the open Pandora air without an air mask (since Pandora’s atmosphere is poisonous to humans), I can’t help but think to myself, “Man, what a total bad-ass.” Although there are likable characters within the film, the majority of them, if not all, are essentially one-note.
‘Avatar’ lived up to its hype of being technologically innovative and wonderful to look at. I’m not a fan of 3D at all, but ‘Avatar’ is the best film I’ve seen in 3D. Still, watching it in 3D distracted from the film itself, which may be why I liked the film more the second time around when I watched it on DVD, because I was able to focus more on the beauty that is Pandora, and the fun and entertainment of the film. ‘Avatar’ was average and sort of mediocre in it’s story and plot, which is what kept the film from being amazing. The film is definitely entertaining and awesome to watch, but it’s too predictable. There’s a certain rule in the movie business for effective films, and that is “Story comes first.” Yes, ‘Avatar’ was meant to be a visual feast, and not an intellectual one, but in judging any film I must critique the plot. Does ‘Avatar’ deserve a lot of awards? Yes, for cinematography, art direction, animation and visual effects. But for best picture? Now that’s going over-board.
Three out of four Kents.
PS: A film that embodies both an intellectual and original plot and a visual delight is ‘Inception.’ A film like that is what deserves a running in the “Best Picture” department. ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World‘ or even ‘Toy Story 3‘ have both wonderfully original plots and great visuals.
PSS: As an interesting fact, Dileep Rao is featured in both ‘Avatar’ and ‘Inception’ as the scientist Max Patel and chemist Yusuf, respectively.
PSSS: I just realized I’m posting this review exactly one year since ‘Avatar’s American release date. Whoa.
