Avatar (2009)

Director: James Cameron
Story: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang
Music: James Horner
Time: 162 minutes
Bottom-line: Mind-blowing special effects; below average in the other aspects    

  James Cameron’s latest film, Avatar, is currently the highest grossing film in the world, grossing over 2 billion US dollars. How did it gross so much? I don’t have the faintest idea. Other then the typical ‘Cameronian special effects’, the rest of the film is a bore. Frankly, I am very much disappointed that Cameron waited 12 years after his multi-Oscar winning Titanic (1997), only to direct this sort of an average film.

Jake's avatar

Avatar takes place in the 22nd century. By 2154, humans have lost resources on Earth. The Resources Development Administration is sending humans to mine a certain mineral called unobtanium on a habitable moon called Pandora, somewhere in the Alpha Centauri galaxy. Scientists use human-Na’vi avatars, made by mixing the DNA of humans and Na’vi. One such person who is sent to Pandora is Jake Sully (Worthington), a handicapped

Neytiri

ex-marine. The head of the program is Dr. Grace Augustine (Weaver). Jake’s avatar gets lost in the forest, and is found by Neytiri (Saldana), a female Na’vi. Jake is eventually accepted into the Na’vi society. 

Worthington (right) and Stephen Lang (left)

  Meanwhile, Capt. Miles Quaritch (Lang), promises Jake that he can get Jake’s legs restored, if Jake can get the Na’vi to clear the area near a certain ‘Hometree’- which the Na’vi worship- because the richest deposits of unobtanium are found there. Jake agrees, but as time progresses, he gets very close with Neytiri, and with the other Na’vi. He even fights against humans, when they launch a surprise attack. Jake feels guilty of playing both sides and confesses to being a spy. The Na’vi capture his avatar and that of Grace. Moreover, Quaritch locks up Grace and Jake. Does Jake escape, and use his avatar to resist human attacks on the Na’vi? Can Jake win back the trust of the Neytiri and the other Na’vi? Watch Cameron’s Avatar to find out.

Cameron wrote the script in 1994, and planned to release it after Titanic. But like Terminator 2, he waited for sufficient technology to develop, to direct this film. He was inspired by a story his mother told him when he was a child, for the look of the Na’vi. Like Titanic, Cameron wanted the characters of Neytiri and Jake to be from completely different cultures (or in this case, different worlds). Similarly, Cameron also created several scenes which resembled incidents in the real world (source Wikipedia).

The attack on the Hometree was supposed to symbolize the 9/11 terrorist attack. The human attitude portrayed is to symbolize the military power of USA, and their attitude of becoming the rulers of the world. The avatars are supposed to stand for ideal humans, or rather, how humans think themselves to be.

The special effects are breathtaking. The entire Pandora is beautifully 'created,' if I can call it that. All the other creatures and environments of the moon are terrific to watch. The look of the Na’vi is good: it’s like seeing American Krishnas. The fight between humans and the Na’vi is brilliantly filmed and is thrilling to watch. This film yet again proves that Cameron has an imaginative and creative mind.

Now, other than special effects, this film is poor in other things. There is no acting at all, except from Stephen Lang, who plays a typical greedy human, and in this film, he makes a great villain. The screen time that shows actual humans is comparatively less, compared to the screen time that shows the Na’vi. This film used so much technology that each and every human expression could be converted to digital form. Then where is the need to act? Any normal guy like you and me can act, leaving technology to make it look good! There is no story either. The concept of a new habitable moon with usable mineral resources is good, but then it just turns into a slow romantic drama. The romance between Jake and Neytiri is a slow, boring one. Lots of time is given to show the different cultures and habits of the Na’vi, making this more like a documentary.

Cameron mainly concentrates in special effects and the action sequences, that he hasn't done much work on the story and the characters. Yet, the only thing that made me watch the film was the visual effects. This film also makes one think: could this be the future of the Earth? Very few people in the present generation actually think about the future consequences of the Earth, others just read about it in theory. Cameron has done his bit in making the viewers think about this. As is said, this also symbolizes American colonialism. Do Americans still think that their military power can conquer the whole world?  

Overall, James Cameron’s Avatar is a masterpiece in terms of groundbreaking visual effects, but is another average film in terms of everything else. If you are a Cameron fan, you will definitely like this film. Else, you will want to watch the film at least for its special effects. Yet, no one has acted well, except Lang, and there is neither story nor romance (the chemistry between Jake and Neytiri is so slow and boring that it doesn't really work out). Though visually dazzling and brilliant, the film falls short of other Cameron films like Titanic and The Terminator.

My Rating: 2.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 83%