The Plot:
Paraplegic war veteran, Jake Sully is brought to another planet called Pandora
in place of his brother with the promise of getting his legs back if he helps
the government on a mission. Pandora is inhabited by a primitive race called the
Na’vi and Jake is sent in to learn their ways so that he can help relocate them
and the humans can take over.
The Good:
Special Effects: As if you didn’t already expect this. The SFX are impeccable
and he uses them well. Instead of just shoving them in your face, he weaves them
into the story beautifully, and they come off effortlessly.
The Details: Normally in a film like this, you can see a few mistakes here and
there, but I didn’t catch any. From Sam Worthington’s tiny legs to the computers
within the scenes – every detail was thought out and used as a part of the
environment. The best thing that Cameron did was allow for all his hard work to
be incorporated into the wide shots without saying “hey look at this.” In
allowing everything to be part of a greater whole, Cameron truly created a world
of his own, which makes you truly feel as if you’ve been transported into a new
world while watching the film.
The Acting:
To both the actors and director’s credit, the performances came
through extremely well. It’s amazing how much of the actors emotions you could
see through their Avatar characters. Zoe Saldana gave an especially emotional
and strong performance, and you never even saw her real face.
Sam Worthington’s Hair: It sounds ridiculous, but this is another detail that
really stood out. Normally you’ll notice that an actor is given a hairstyle that
they can have throughout the entire film, but Worthington’s hair changed with
every time shift in the movie and it always looked completely natural. Yet
again, nice touch.
The Mediocre:
The Story: Cameron came up with a lot of original ideas for this film, but the
story was not one of them. Although it was well put together, clean, and
everything played out like clock-work, there was no originality to it. As
everyone realized as they were walking out of the theater, the film is Dances
with Wolves but with blue cat-like aliens. It’s every video game you’ve ever
played, ever steamy-action novel you’ve ever read, every plot line you’ve seen
before in a big budget film. Is it well told? Absolutely! But with all the time
and money Cameron put into it, I would expect him to tell an old story well. I
get that he took a number of risks, so maybe asking for an original story was
taking things too far…
The Bad:
Early Footage: Although it was fun to see early footage of the film a few months
ago, it screws you over in the long run. The first 45 minutes of the film is all
about being in awe of the environment. It’s about reacting to everything around
you, for the people who have seen the footage the experience isn’t fresh and
therefore it doesn’t carry you as much as it should. For those of you who have
abstained from any footage, you’ll soon be rewarded.
James Horner: I could literally tell you what instruments he was about to use
and when (and I did tell the person sitting next to me a few times). The music
was signposty, cliched, and sounded exactly like Titanic. Horner and Cameron go
together like two peas in a pod and people love their collaborations, just not
me. Films that take big risks like to find safety where ever they can, and
Horner is their comfort blanket. For me, it was the one big thing in the film
that almost took me out of a few amazing moments.
Natives Vs. Technology: (Spoiler alert) A white man comes in, learns the ways of
a more primitive people, then fucks them over, has a change in heart, and comes
back and uses their own ignorance and belief system to make himself a hero. It’s
like Thanksgiving all over again! Although this is an old story that we’ve seen
many times before and I can’t blame Cameron for coming up with it, is this
really a message we want to be spreading and more so, promoting? What about
taking responsibility for yourself?
Overall:
If nothing else this is a visual masterpiece and is meant to be seen in IMAX 3-D
theaters. It will take you on a ride and blow you away. If you want to avoid
some of the problems with it, just make sure to turn your brain off upon arrival
and let your senses lead you.
