James Cameron’s Movie Avatar Review
Director James Camerons longawaited Avatar paints an alien race with a delicacy for bows and arrows, but keeps the 3D jutting clichés under control. Even when bloody arrowheads stick out at your face, Cameron secures the stunts dont distract from his spiritual story.
To begin, yes this is the epic visual masterpiece that youve all been waiting for and it succeeds in everything it tries to do (visually).The overall look is stunning beyond belief, the special effects are impeccable, Cameron got me to shed a tear and sit on the edge of my seat BUT the film isnt flawless, not by a long shot
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 Navi and Jake is sent in to learn their ways so that he can help relocate them and the humans can take over.
Instead they try to win the natives trust by setting up schools, teaching them English and infiltrating their number with organic avatars, modeled on Navi DNA but controlled with a human consciousness which is where Jake Sully (Australian actor Sam Worthington) comes in. Hes a Marine and just naïve or innocent enough to score a free pass into the most suspicious of the local tribes.
Navi detest ’sky people’ and calls them Earth denizens. The mission is to get vast quantities of a mineral that Navi has and officials want to relocate Navi but Jake will never ever do it and will try to take it through negotiation. Jake gets lost in the forests and a Navi warrior Neytiri rescues him.
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 clockwork, 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 catlike aliens.
After watching ‘Avatar’, the question of paramount importance iswhat does one pick and what is it that should be left behind the experience that goes by the name of ‘Avatar’?
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. Its about reacting to everything around you, for the people who have seen the footage the experience isnt fresh and therefore it doesnt carry you as much as it should. For those of you who have abstained from any footage, youll soon be rewarded.