What a way to close out the year. Avatar is THE event picture ardent film-goers have been waiting. Critics such as A.O. Scott and Roger Ebert have likened it to the way audiences must have felt when they first saw Star Wars in theaters back in 1977. Nearly two decades ago, James Cameron revolutionized computer effects with the morphing technology in Terminator 2 and The Abyss. Only a few short years later, he helmed the biggest, box office blockbuster in history in Titanic. Now, he’s hoping to tap into an audience just as wide while revolutionizing FX again with the sci-fi epic, Avatar.
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic combat vet whose twin brother was recently murdered in a mugging. Sully is tasked as his brother’s replacement off-planet on the faraway world of Pandora. The planet is inhabited by an alien race called the Na’Vi, lanky, 10-foot tall, feline-like creatures that hunt with bows & arrows and ride on dragon-esque creatures. The atmosphere is toxic to humans so a group of scientists led by Dr. Grace Augustyn (Sigourney Weaver) have developed clones genetically engineered from human and Na’vi DNA. They can be controlled telepathically and used to communicate with the natives who aren’t too trusting of us hairless apes. Sully signs up with the program so he can pay for the expensive procedure to fix his legs, an operation he couldn’t normally afford, ”…not in this economy,” he states.
As with most sci-fi flicks, Earth has been trashed and a nameless corporation is desperate to get its hands on Pandora’s resources, in particular an ore dubbed (seriously), “unobtainum.” Funny thing is, after viewing and digesting the film, I can’t, for the life of me, recall why it is they need the stuff. Is it for fuel? Manufacturing? All I know is, it’s worth a shit-ton of money. Like Weyland-Yutani and Cyberdyne, the corporation is more concerned with profits than human (or humanoid) lives. At their disposal, is a private army led by Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang), a gung-ho he-man with tunnel vision and a hard-on for wiping out the indigenous natives. Sully is initially sent to spy on the Na’vi and learn their ways and weaknesses. Of course, he falls in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the daughter of the tribal leader, and switches allegiances. Sully rallies the Na’vi into a final battle against the human forces.
Also included in the cast are Joel David Moore and Drag Me to Hell’s Dileep Rao as fellow scientists in the Avatar program, Giovanni Ribisi as the corporate representative, and Michelle Rodriguez as a hotshot pilot who is essentially a variation of Vasquez from Aliens.
Cameron began writing Avatar back in the mid-90’s, but had to wait it out until motion capture animation and 3D projection caught up with his imagination. The production budget is estimated to be around $230 million and you can push that above the $300 million mark when you include advertising. Those are very conservative estimates on my part and I’m not counting whatever money they sunk into R&D. All that money and hype pumped into Avatar and I couldn’t help but think, was that all?
Visually, Avatar is a masterpiece and a stunning technological achievement. As Sully explores the world of Pandora, so does the audience. The 3D effects of Avatar are far beyond the gimmicky days of characters throwing random objects at the crowd. The film opens up, allowing the audience into its bioluminescent wonderland. At times, the 3D is subtle enough that you won’t even notice it. Cameron can still direct the hell out of a movie. The climactic battle sequence never descends into a mess of special effects the way the Star Wars prequels did. The motion capture of Avatar is leaps and bounds ahead of the stiff, plastic looking animation used by Robert Zemeckis in his movies.
If only Cameron had spent as much time developing the flaccid script as he did with the remarkable CGI. Avatar completely and utterly fails in the story department with a hackneyed plot that’s part-Dances with Wolves, part-Pocahontas. I kept waiting for everyone to bust out a campfire rendition of "Colors of the Wind." It's the old "poor, outmatched primitives who can only be saved by the brave white man" deal. The characters are one-dimensional and every plot twist is telegraphed. Cameron uses all the subtlety of a sledgehammer when it comes to espousing his messages on American imperialism and today’s economic and ecological crises. The same goes for the clunky bits of exposition that are awkwardly dropped into the dialogue as the film begins. Like the John Henry of filmmakers, Cameron continues swinging that sledgehammer with Sully’s voice-over narration. Cameron uses it the way no one should ever use narration, yet everyone still does it, by simply telling the audience what they already know. If you couldn’t figure out that Sully was conflicted about his mission, Cameron makes sure to spell it out in excruciatingly dull detail.
Sam Worthington has definitely earned the role of action hero for the new decade. He’s made less than stellar work such as Avatar and Terminator Salvation much better with his screen presence. He should do the same for the Clash of the Titans remake and rumor has it he’s in line for the lead in the upcoming Flash Gordon redo. Sigourney Weaver, who is more Dian Fossey than Ellen Ripley here, lends some credibility to an otherwise underwritten role. The same goes for Stephen Lang who seems to have popped out of nowhere this year. After great performances in Public Enemies and The Men Who Stare at Goats, Lang completes the hat trick with Avatar having fun with his cartoon character Colonel.
Avatar definitely deserves to be seen on a big screen. If you can’t see it in IMAX 3D, then at the very least, see it in regular 3D though your peepers might be strained after three hours of eye candy. However, in the end, that’s all it really is, eye candy. Avatar is gorgeous to look at, but it lacks the soul and pathos of recent sci-fi films like Moon or even District 9.
Rating: **
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