REVIEW: Avatar (2009) 4.5 STARS
Avatar
Rated: PG-13
Starring: Sam Worthington
Runtime: 162 minutes
My Rating: 4.5 stars.
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The hype surrounding Avatar was overwhelming almost from the moment the first 3-minute trailer was unveiled.
I heard things like “This will change the way we watch movies.” The wait finally ended today as James Cameron’s first movie since Titanic hit theaters. This one is in 3-D.
And everyone wants to know if it lives up. I can only give you a mixed answer.
The technology certainly does. There is a near-seamless transition between live-action and animation. At times, the two co-exist on screen and it feels natural.
Cameron brings to life the Na’vi, inhabitants of a celestial planet called Pandora. Its name, of course, makes one think of Pandora’s box. And this film is not unlike the tale.
But then again there is more to Avatar than just a story of hope.
Humans are looking to drive out the Na’vi to mine for a rare rock that’s worth $20 million per karat. They are also looking, although never outright stated, for a place in inhabit once Earth’s resources are completely depleted. Simple things like grass on Pandora cause the humans to pause in awe.
The first attempt, by simply talking to the Na’vi, doesn’t work, so Avatars are created. These are Na’vi-looking vessels that were created by mixing native and human DNA. They are controlled remotely using the minds of their corresponding humans. The military is hoping to gain intelligence about the Na’vi culture to talk them into moving so they can mine.
The conflict arises when Jake (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic ex-marine, is asked to infiltrate a tribe via avatar. He’s asked to gather data by the science-driven side of the expedition as well as bring back intelligence to the military side so as to make mining for the rock easier.
Got all that?
Predictably – otherwise the movie would have no where to go – Jake begins to like, and even love, the Na’vi. They welcome him only because their God, Eyra has given a sign that he has a good heart.
The Na’vi have little material technologies, but can connect to the land via membranes in their hair and arms. They can feel and hear what the land wants and needs. Everything is one big network of information. They hunt with bows and arrows atop horse-like creatures and dragons. They always say a prayer to Eyra before they finish off the prey, however. And Eyra, supposedly, protects the Na’vi by providing more food.
Anyway, Jake is accepted by the people, but is pressured by the humans for information. The film is about his choices and who to help. There is the typical cataclysmic ending.
At it’s heart though, Avatar is a real message about war, our humanity and where we are headed. Some could even say Avatar is an anti-American film. After all, the bad guys appear to be the white people.
White man comes in, pillages, threatens the natives and all-out war ensues. White man doesn’t care about the natives as long as he gets his money. White man sees green, natives see horror. Ring a bell?
Cameron mastered the 3-D technology in this, but his story runs into standard war-movie clichés. Granted, Avatar looks on the surface to be new and fresh, but the basic themes are all the same.
There aren’t any twists in the narrative, nor is the ending all that hard to predict. Where this movie excels is in Cameron’s technical achievement. This is by far the best-looking film you or I have ever seen. It doesn’t feel gimmicky like most 3-D films. It feels as it should – movie first, 3-D second. Cameron’s imagination and use of the technology is unmatched to date. That alone is reason enough to see Avatar. Its appearance overshadows its fairly rudimentary plot. 4.5 stars.
