Avatar: You Too, Can Be Blue

Sam Worthington joins the ranks of Costner and Cruise; you know, save the enviromentally friendly natives.

Avatar

starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao

directed by James Cameron

And so, twelve years ago, James Cameron declared himself King of the World at the Academy Awards for the success of his film Titanic. Then the self proclaimed World King virtually disappeared. He did a few documentaries for TV and produced a few things, but James Cameron has basically been a no show for the first decade of the century. Then, out of the blue (haha), the name of his new film is released; Avatar. Speculation abounded on just what the film was about, and whether or not Cameron still had the right stuff to make a good movie. I think its safe to say that we’ve all been shock and awed by Cameron’s triumphant return to his one true love: Science Fiction.

In the distant future, 2154 to be exact, humans have found alien life on a distant planet called Pandora. The planet possesses a powerful ore which can power entire cities for months on nothing more than a few ounces. Problem is, the biggest deposit of the ore is underneath the home of Pandora’s inhabitants, the Na’vi. So, enter several hundred retired marines as a security force and you’ve got a slight problem with the natives. The last chance for a peaceful solution lies in the Avatar Program under the supervision of Dr. Grace Augustine (Weaver). She has created a human/na’vi hybrid body that can channel a human brain. This way, they can control the empty shell with their mind and interact with the Na’vi and their world as equals. Jake Sully (Worthington) takes on the role of an Avatar last minute because of the death of his brother. He takes over his brother’s Avatar and through coincidence is invited into the Na’vi home by Neytiri (Saldana), the daughter of the tribe’s chief. He is trained as a Na’vi warrior and is eventually given status as a member of the tribe. Sully is supposed to be gathering intel for Colonel Miles Quaritch (Lang) so that the Na’vi can be exterminated, but he falls in love with the culture and spirit of the people. So Jake is presented with a choice; protect his newfound people from the destruction of their home, or help the humans destroy it.

The major problem with this film is the wholely unoriginal plot. If you’ve seen Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Dances With Wolves, or The Last Samurai, among many others, you’ve already seen the plot of this film. James Cameron doesn’t even attempt to hide it; the Na’vi are essentially Native Americans with the spiritual connection to the land and forest they live in. Its disappointing coming from the creator of Aliens and Terminator; we all know he can write original stories and original characters. All the characters in Avatar, you’ve seen before. They’re one dimensional; the torn hero, the spiritual warrior woman, the deranged military man. More time spent with plot and character development could have taken this film from being good to great, and its sad that Cameron skipped over such an important piece the film.

Having railed him for that, though, Cameron more than makes up for lack of like able characters with his Mythos. He created Pandora from scratch; not only do we have a new world with new races that are visually stunning, there is a well thought out culture and history to the Na’vi. From their legends and customs to the relationship with their goddess, Cameron took a Tolkien-esque approach to the myth of the Na’vi people. The world of Pandora itself, could in fact be viewed as the main character; there is such depth to not only the history, but the flora and fauna. Each new animal presented is unique, a virtual piece of eye candy, and has a role to play in the flow of the world around it. For what Cameron lacks as a writer, his imagination compensates wonderfully.

The acting is what you’d expect. Shallow, one dimensional, and completely flat. However, it is sufficient for the scripts that the actors and actresses were given. Plus, kudos must be given to Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana as well as anyone else who portrayed a Na’vi. To be able to act at all while in front of a green screen and wearing a bunch of motion capture gizmos takes talent. Perhaps the stand out performance, if there is to be one, is that of little known Stephen Lang. You might remember him from Gods and Generals. His role as Colonel Quaritch was as it should be; intense, hateful, and fearfully efficient. Its a pity we don’t have the opportunity to see him in more movies.

Perhaps most importantly, though, is the CGI that incompasses over sixty percent of the film. As of December of 2009, the price to make Avatar is one of the highest in movie making history; $280,000,000. A significant portion of that went to all of the CGI work that makes the film what it is. Every scene involving an Avatar or Na’vi, the floating mountains, the creatures of the jungle, the scenes in space; all are one big canvas for the movie magic makers behind the scenes. The film would be a throw away cheap story without the money spent on the Computer Imaging. I believe it is safe to say that no film in recent history comes close to matching the scope and panorama of Avatar, and it’ll be a long time before someone can come close. Some people complain about the all encompassing CGI being a distraction and being too unrealistic. I disagree; after ten minutes, your imagination adjusts and the CGI is so seamless that you’ll forget what you’re seeing is in fact, not real.

All in all, Avatar is perhaps one of the most Epic movies of all time. The grand vision of the film is something that only comes along every so often in the film making industry. James Cameron, you are a sci fi geek, and we love you for it. You can’t write worth a damn, but you do have some really cool ideas. Go out and see Avatar, reader. I highly recommend seeing it in 3D, because it adds a whole other layer to the world of Pandora and really takes you in. Just know that the film sits just under three hours long; you’re butt will be numb, but your eyes won’t know what hit them.