I am sure most have you have heard what this movie is about, but I will give a quick synopsis. Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington, is a ex-marine that was paralyzed in battle. He is given the opportunity to go to the planet Pandora to take part in the "Avatar" program. Pandora is very rich in valuable resources that are trying to be mined and taken back to Earth. However standing in the way of corporate greed is a race of native people know as the Na'vi. The "Avatar" program basically links the mind of a human into a body of a Na'vi. In exchange for the ability to walk again, Sully is sent in to get close to the Na'vi to negotiate the relocation of the indigenous people, so the valuable resources can be mined. To Sully's surprise, he is forced to pick sides, in a battle for Pandora.
That is about as quickly as I can wrap up the movie which plays out over nearly 3 hours. The story I would say is a downfall of this movie. It is interesting to say the least, and the idea, is behind comprehension even for the most vivid imaginations. However, this movie was completely predictable, and parts made me even laugh out loud as they just seemed so cheesy. I guess what can you expect when you take Titanic and morph it with Terminator. In all seriousness though the world created by director James Cameron is unreal. He basically creates a complete culture and mythology for this indigenous species. However the creativity doesn't stop with the people as the plants, and creatures of Pandora are just as spectacular.
Worthington, is pretty good in the lead role. He is a likable enough character. However I do feel some of the other performances fell pretty short. One problem I had was distinguishing the different Na'vi characters. To me they all looked alike, especially in the fight scenes, so it was hard to follow many characters from the tribe. The earthlings, in this case the aliens, were about as stereotypical as can be. The Marines that were hired to fight the Na'vi only want to do one thing and that is destroy. The scientists that were there to learn about the plants, and people, fit the tree hugging stereotype to tee. These are all minor flaws to the movie, but with all the time spent to create this amazing world, I wish they would have spent some time creating characters that you actually really cared about. Besides Worthington, there weren't many to find.
The visual effects of this movie are without question, the highlight. I am planning on going again, just to take in exactly what is going on in this vast world. I felt like I was on a great acid trip and I have never tried acid. The special effects are worth the price of admission alone. Cameron appears to be in a class of his own, for setting the bar in creative, visual, film making. He picks up right where he left off in some of his other classics. Much like Terminator or Alien, you cannot happen to believe that something like this is possible, for how life-like he made the entire environment. He has it down to every last detail. I will say that for all the flaws that the story had, I cannot wait for them to make another one, because I feel like there is still so much to see in Pandora. Wow, I feel gay saying that.
Another great part of this film is the action sequences. Futuristic action movies usually fall short, or get old fast. Unless of course we are talking about Total Recall. This movie's fight sequences were thrilling from start to finish. In the beginning of the movie there is a fight between Sully's Avatar and a native creature of Pandora, right from that point you realize you are watching something never seen before. That feeling carries right throughout the entire movie, culminating in a 20 minute, in air, action sequence, that easily is one of the most entertaining 20 minutes of film I have ever seen.
This film had a lot of hype and I will say that it lived up to a lot of it for me. Yes there were some problems with the story, and some plot holes I didn't like. It was almost childish at times. However if you are able to look past that and let this film take your imagination and run wild, you wont be disappointed. Like I said I am already planning on checking it out again, as I believe visually there is no equal to this movie. The characters for the most part are forgettable, but the world of Pandora, is something I want to see much more of.
5 comments:
I haven't seen it, I will probably see it when it comes out on video, but based upon what you told me about the story... yawn.
Why go to so much special effects trouble to tell a tired-ass story. "But, but, it's this far away planet, see, and the creatures there are different, see, and there..." Stop! It's a story that has been played out on Earth hundreds of times and told thousands of times.
New World settlers, meet Native Americans. Frontier trailblazers, meet further West Native Americans. Kevin Costner switches teams in the end.
American corporations, meet developing nations you're trying to rape for profit.
Why work so hard, make such a spectacle, spend hundreds of millions of dollars, to tell a really lame, done before story?
I'll never get it.
Timmy, funny you should mention the native americans because that is basically what i felt i was watching. A story of the wild west battles with human-cat like creatures playing the roll of native americans. It was a sweet movie though. For the atmosphere alone its probably worth the time.
Timmay I couldnt agree more. He has all the resources to really make this a ground breaking movie experience, but it fell way short in terms of a unique storyline. As many of you know South Park ripped Avatar by calling it "Dances With Smurfs", which I find pretty funny. It really is a recyled story and that dissapointed me, and really the reason I think future movies will be better, but like AP said, just for the spectacle.
Didn't see the "Dances With Smurfs" thing, but that is dead on and hilarious. Costner in Dances With Wolves was the first thing I thought of when I read about the human who is forced to choose sides between the imperialist humans and the natives of Pandora.
I am a little behind the masses. I just saw Avatar and didn't think it could live up to the hype. I was wrong other than being a bit long over all I thought it kicked ass.
Visually it was stunning and spiritually it was uplifting the story may have been told before but it is one that should be. It had a little of everything action, comedy, drama, love even some taboo inter racial mating.
Timmay I take umbrage with you saying the story line is played out. It may have been told a thousand times but yet it still happens to this day. I say tell it and tell it often until one day we get it right.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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