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Avatar is set in the year 2154 when humans have knowledge of life on other planets, insane weaponry, and mind control of test tube aliens. The scene is set on the planet Pandora, where the 9 foot tall, blue-skinned Na'vi people live. At a security force base on this planet, we learn that a group of Americans are trying to acquire the planet’s natural resources, by any means necessary. This army-like organization brings in Jake Sully to operate one of their avatars, in the hopes that he will be able to learn the ways of the “savages” and convince them to hand over their valuable resources. As Jake’s mind controls this Na'vi body, we are taken to a world of vibrant colors, flying dragons, and an overly-complicated relationship with Mother Earth.
First of all, if you spend the extra money to see this movie in Imax 3-D, which I would highly recommend, you will experience effects unlike anything you’ve seen before. From interaction with dragons, to floating mountains, both the scenery and the alien creatures are fantastic to look at. The 3-D is not overwhelming, in-your-face, look-at-how-crazy-we-can-get 3-D, which I think is great. 3-D movies have gotten gimmicky, and this is a nice change of pace. An hour into the movie, I forgot that it was 3-D…. in a good way.
Avatar’s primary downfall comes in the writing. The precious natural resources being sought after so actively by the security force is called “unobtainium,” which is, of course, the most ridiculous name any writer could come up with. Aside from that, there are some very one-dimensional characters. Both Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) and Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who are some of the higher-ups in the security force, are very under-developed as characters. Both of them only care about obtaining the unobtainium, and are more than happy to crush the peaceful people that it belongs to.
Short of lazy script writing, this film is great. It creates a new world and new effects linking live action and computer animation in ways that have never been done before. The effects crew working for Cameron is top notch, and will likely earn awards for visual effects this awards season. I would recommend this movie to absolutely everyone who enjoys a good action flick, and probably everyone else too. 4 out of 5 stars. |
