Avatar
Budgeted at nearly $270 million, “Avatar” spends every cent to create a world so rich and lush, so textured, real and surreal, you give yourself over to it and then lose yourself in it. Computers long have driven films, but not at this high a level and not with Cameron’s legions of gifted artists working behind the screens. At nearly three hours, the movie is long, but the trick is that the storytelling is brisk, with Cameron focusing the bulk of his film on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine paralyzed from the waist down and now confined to a wheelchair. How a team of scientists get him out of that chair and on his feet is unconventional, to say the least, but the year is 2154, after all, and apparently anything is possible. Besides, getting Jake mobile is critical to the movie. Doing so involves the use of a scientifically created, 10-foot-tall avatar modeled after the Na’vi, an alien race that lives on the planet Pandora, which has the misfortune of possessing a mineral called Unobtainium that could save Earth from its dwindling energy reserves if enough of it is mined. And so it will be mined--by force, if necessary, though the idea behind these manufactured Na’vi is to allow for assimilation in an effort to move this race to another part of Pandora, where the Unobtainium isn’t present.
Through sleep and science, Jake becomes his avatar--long and blue and lithe of limb, it’s a thrill to watch him run again--and soon he’s off to Pandora with Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, nicely channeling Ripley from Cameron’s “Alien” franchise) and a handful of others. Once there, the beauty of Pandora shields a wealth of dangers. Anything can and does happen, with Jake eventually being separated from his crew and stumbling upon the cat-like Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who mocks him, nearly kills him, and whose parents lead the Na’vi. Naturally, in spite of all her hissing, Jakes falls for her. Since the film’s pleasures go beyond the brilliance of its visuals--Cameron’s strength always has been his ability to mount one mother of a climax, which he does here--the final battle scene is pieced together like that of a cardiothoracic surgeon. Extravagant, yet not over the top, the film winds down to be one hulluva finale. Safe to say that the supporting cast (Stephen Lang, Giovani Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez) is solid; but there really is no outstanding performance in the film by a supporting actor playing a human.
Through sleep and science, Jake becomes his avatar--long and blue and lithe of limb, it’s a thrill to watch him run again--and soon he’s off to Pandora with Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, nicely channeling Ripley from Cameron’s “Alien” franchise) and a handful of others. Once there, the beauty of Pandora shields a wealth of dangers. Anything can and does happen, with Jake eventually being separated from his crew and stumbling upon the cat-like Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who mocks him, nearly kills him, and whose parents lead the Na’vi. Naturally, in spite of all her hissing, Jakes falls for her. Since the film’s pleasures go beyond the brilliance of its visuals--Cameron’s strength always has been his ability to mount one mother of a climax, which he does here--the final battle scene is pieced together like that of a cardiothoracic surgeon. Extravagant, yet not over the top, the film winds down to be one hulluva finale. Safe to say that the supporting cast (Stephen Lang, Giovani Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez) is solid; but there really is no outstanding performance in the film by a supporting actor playing a human.
James Cameron has come back home ladies and gentlemen. Cameron is back, bigger, badder, and more mature in his crowning work of his career. Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic do not even compare anymore. This is the film that can blend the fans of those two films together and lock Cameron into your heart. He's a definite spoiler for a directing bid for the Academy Awards. You have to admire the raw, natural talent the man has. How could you ever conceive such an experience and put that much effort and work into it and have it pay off? The box office success will surely keep him in the minds of voters for various critics' awards. His screenplay, leaps and bounds better than 1997's Best Picture Winner, is primed, developed and ripe for the taking. Though, you do acquire the tacky and atypical dialogue you expect from a science fiction director of this caliber, you can appreciate the effort and the honesty of it all. James Cameron is everything Michael Bay wishes he was, to put it bluntly. Avatar is one of the best films of the year. The most exciting, thrilling, and superb work you'll feast your eyes on in any theater this century. Cinema, forever, will remember the benchmark that James Cameron placed not only for himself, but for any man, daring to change the game, the way Cameron did. Avatar is a movie experience to be remembered, and please experience in a movie theater first.
Rating = 9.2
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