Few films ever really live up to the hype that precedes their release. Lord knows “Avatar” has had the marketing machine in full force for a while now. And certainly James Cameron is worth it, right? The guy has made some amazing films like “Terminator” I and II, “Aliens”, “The Abyss”, and “Titanic”. So the expectations have been high, especially with all the talk of ground-breaking technical effects.
Few films ever really live up to the hype that precedes their release. Lord knows “Avatar” has had the marketing machine in full force for a while now. And certainly James Cameron is worth it, right? The guy has made some amazing films like “Terminator” I and II, “Aliens”, “The Abyss”, and “Titanic”. So the expectations have been high, especially with all the talk of ground-breaking technical effects.
Of course, my fear with movies like this are that the effects, regardless of how amazing, will simply turn the movie into a big video game no one cares about because the script was lacking. With “Avatar”, I got pretty much what I feared. But not for the exact reasons I thought.
“Avatar” is about a paraplegic soldier, Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, is chosen to partake in the Avatar program where a person is linked up to a genetically created being of the race Na’vi from the planet Pandora. The idea is to learn from them, but also to try to get them to leave an area where some of them live because some big Earth corporation wants to mine a valuable mineral there. Jake Sully becomes torn between following orders, and protecting the Na’vi.
Right away I can tell you that all the hype about the technical aspects of this film is justified. This movie is most certainly a full of things we haven’t seen before. The 3D is completely amazing and offers an experience that takes what you saw in “Coraline” one step further. Frankly, I was astounded at the beauty and imagination of the planet Pandora, with all its’ diverse flora and fauna. Much of the design and effects are by the Stan Winston company and the Weta Workshop, and it is all first rate across the board. Even the Na’vi people, which is one a major point, feel less like CG characters than any I’ve ever seen on film. I’d say they aren’t perfect, but it’s far and away the best I’ve seen. There is a great sense of three dimensional depth, interaction in space, natural movement, and expression employed here.
And I actually manage to care about these characters, despite knowing that they are CG animations. The fact that I don’t feel as much about what happens to them as I should, falls squarely on the problem with the script. The story, despite being fairly unique in character and setting, is wrought with same-old formula. Sure, there is an environmental message here, but even that isn’t the problem. Other than a couple instances of groan-worthy lines, which I think all Cameron movies have, they don’t get too heavy-handed. But you’ve seen this formula before, and when you know what to expect in the story, you lose any sense of surprise in the story-telling.
You’ve seem this before, right?: (semi-spoilers) Soldier goes in to learn about this race of people to give intel back to the corporate/military. Soldier grows to appreciate the natives, even fall in love with one. Then they are all threatened by the military. Soldier tells the native people he knew the corporate/military were coming all along. Natives feel betrayed by his lies and they shun him. Then he performs some great act to gain their trust back to lead the fight against the evil military. Yeah, you can see it all coming before the next scene starts.
But this movie is still worth seeing for the visual spectacle alone. I HIGHLY recommend seeing it in 3D! If it weren’t for that, this movie would be less worth seeing. In this case, strangely, the technical aspect saves this movie from being average. Go ahead and immerse yourself in this visually imaginative world and try not to worry so much about the formulaic plot. It’s still worth it.
—Neil T. Weakley, your average movie-goer, wishing this film had been perfect.
