Fresh Reviews: "Avatar"

Yes, now that every other person on the face of the planet who writes about movies has done their review of "Avatar", I'm chiming in with the last one. What can I say? I'm like that sometimes with catching up with everyone else... I didn't get a CD player until 1992 or a cell phone until 1999, either.

As if you didn't know, "Avatar" is about what happens when a military force of Earth citizens come to the planet Pandora in search of a valuable mineral that their slowly dying homeworld desperately needs. The fact that the planet is inhabited by an intelligent race, the Na'vi, isn't going to stop them. To blend in, the earthlings have created "Avatars", artificial bodies in the semblance of the Na"vi, which they can "inhabit" and see through for short periods of time. But when one of the soldiers becomes sympathetic to the Na'vi cause and disillusioned with his mission, he joins the Na'vi resistance, and the trouble REALLY starts.

I've seen almost all of the other 3-D movies released over the past few years, but I've always waited until they hit the second run theatres, which never get the 3-D versions, and I still don't think I've missed all that much. But I'm glad I didn't do the same for "Avatar" (and thanks to those who managed to persuade me on this one). The 3-D effects genuinely do add to the experience of the movie, as it is clearly writer/director James Cameron's intention to do everything he possibly can to envelop the audience in this world... to make them forget for two and a half hours that they're in a theatre watching a movie. That happens to be exactly the experience I'm after each time I got to the movies, so I welcome his efforts in that direction. And the 3-D effects proved to be comparatively subtle, too: I remember far too many cheesy 3-D films of the past that spent most of their time throwing things at the screen and suchlike just to make the audience duck. The effects here are used as much for the sake of realism (that is, to add a sense of depth) as anything else, and when something does come charging at the screen, as a general rule, most of the time it's in a scene where that's a natural part of the action. As amazing as the visuals are (and they REALLY are), the 3-D doesn't call nearly as much attention to itself as it used to in other films; it feels more organic.

There's the problem with the story, of course, as I always knew there would be. The script has always been Cameron's weakness (it's no coincidence that with all the Oscar nominations for "Titanic" a screenplay Oscar was not one of them). You can clearly identify the obvious sources of inspiration for "Avatar": for me it seemed like a combination of "Dances With Wolves" and Alan Dean Foster's science fiction novel "Midworld". But the screenplay actually does seem a bit stronger than "Titanic", so perhaps Cameron is gradually learning. He has managed to generate not only an incredibly detailed, amazing, fantastic world, but has inhabited it with a full cast of interesting characters, which is more than can be said for "Titanic".

Sam Worthington as the "traitorous" soldier who "goes native" seems quite authentic, and Zoe Saldana (Uhura in the latest "Star Trek" movie") manages a great performance purely with her voice as the Na'vi with whom Worthington falls in love. Wes Studi also impresses as a Na'vi leader, and Sigourney Weaver (a Cameron veteran from "Aliens") is the acting standout as the creator of the Avatar program, who has become rather disillusioned herself at the use to which the military is putting her creations. The general played by Stephen Lang is a bit cartoonish, but he plays the "evil bad guy" role so well I didn't much care. And Giovani Ribisi as another bad guy is not quite his equal, but still not bad at all.

The Na'vi are clearly based on various Native American tribes, and Cameron seems to have a real love of and respect for their beliefs and culture. Many of the battles between the Na'vi and the earthlings are designed as otherworldly versions of the Indians vs. the Cavalry fights as we might have WISHED they had turned out. I was especially impressed with something that I don't think has been mentioned in any of the many reviews of this film that I've read: the Na'vi's spirituality. Obviously based on Native American religion but with added aspects of eastern philosophies, Christianity and pure science, it's a fascinating element of the story that I hope is touched on further in any sequels there might be. The Na'vi "religion" might not actually exist on earth, but you may wind up thinking that Earth would be a much better and more peaceful place if it did.

With all of the postive comments here, I still haven't changed my mind about "Avatar" not deserving the "Best Picture, Drama" Golden Globe it picked up, and I hope it doesn't win the "Best Film" Oscar it's just been nominated for (award worthy as it is in other categories). However, I also was definitely more impressed with it than I had thought I was going to be. Decent acting, visuals that as astounding as they are still are there to actually SERVE the story, and some actual food for thought. It's been said more than once that "Avatar" is the future of the movies and that this is the way movies will be as a standard eventually. I don't know if I'd necessarily want to watch movies like "Cinema Paradiso" or some tiny little indie drama in this format, but with attention payed to the basic aspects of quality film-making, I could definitely see the appeal in many cases... I mean, as strong a film as it was, just imagine how much more powerful "The Hurt Locker" could have been in this style. In the meantime, for those who really like to be totally wrapped up in the experience of a movie and the story it's telling, "Avatar" does that like nothing else around.