James Cameron seems to be on a personal mission to establish himself as a ground breaker in film. We have had the Terminator films, Titanic and now Avatar. Avatar isn't so much a film with some gratuitous CGI chucked in for good effect. It has simply redefined what special effects should be in a film. Avatar has pulled out all the stops, every cent of the 310 million dollars it reputedly cost to make has been spent in order to produce a cinematic experience truly unlike anything that has been before. Camerons uber-perfectionist style has meant that no stops have been left out to make the Navi and their homeworld: - Pandora, as believably possible as an alien world on a cinema screen can actually be. I was also impressed that the effects, whilst always in the forefront, were a means to an end, rather than the end themselves. If a CGI scene was put in, it was for a reason. So the film never felt laboured, or gratuitously self indulgent, unlike the Transformers films and the Star Wars prequels. I recommend the 3D version as well, it makes use of the effect without resorting to effects that are blatantly choreographed to take advantage of 3D, such as stuff on the screen, poking you in the face. Highlights for me are when protagonist, Jake Sully's (Sam Worthington) avatar first gets stranded in the Pandora forest and it's weird bioluminescant lifeforms. This felt like the weirdest David Attenborough documentary I'd ever seen, and a scene on a tree top near the vortex mountains. I literally had a wave of vertigo pass through me (no really). The FX are just that spot on. I really can't do them justice with words alone.
The actual plot of the film without giving away too much is a relatively simple one that's as old as the hills. The Blue skinned Navi are a peaceful race of forest dwelling primitives who have a deep affinity and connection with the life forms on their lands. But this way of life is threatened by a greedy mining colony of resource strapped humans, with their zealous, bankrolled marine privateer guards, that wants to mine unobtanium, some made up stuff that is very valuable, and wouldn't you know, is inconveniently plonked under the Navi territory. The humans have made Avatars, which are genetically constructed Navi, whose consciousness are controlled by humans in a lab. These remotely controlled Navi are designed to persuade their supposed countryman round to yielding land to the humans. There's only one way this is going to turn out, and this is the core of the film. It is essentially a morality tale about the need to respect mother nature, and not to exploit less advanced societies. It's hardly the most subtle example I've ever come across, but it tells a competent and focused story, showing us the conflict about how the humans are treating the Navi without going into some major league on screen sermonising. The film is atmospheric enough to show us the humans actions against the Navi, so we see for ourselves, rather than being hit about the head with the moral of the story. Which was a relief to me. It could have been a long 3 hours! The moral of the story as I said is old hat, but is a worthy one and if you want to put it across then you're OK with me. (I'm sure there will be some Republicans in the US ragging the film as green trash, at some point of it's showing.)
The Navi themselves are obviously based on the Amerindians (or common perceptions of them.) and the story is an allegory of the colonisation of the New World. These peaceable 12 foot tall, puppy eyed aliens are your standard nature loving (if overly rose tinted view of primitive societies.) low tech tree dwellers, but Cameron has added a little twist to this old trope, we see there is a pseudo scientific reason for why the Navi can mentally link with other life forms, and how the forest itself may be a giant ultra - consciousness. Has Cameron been tweaking about with the Gaia hypothesis? I'm not big on getting all sentimental about nature, but these (almost on the fringe of plausible) at least try to rationalise this green philosophy, rather than that lazy Hollywood cliche that Indi---,, sorry Navi are just at one with nature, cause they, er.. are like you know, - are. They also feel like real characters (some who probably walked,- alongside some of the plots, off Pocahontas, Last of the Mohicans and Dances with Wolves!)
The acting and dialogue in the film was also above par. Whilst it wasn't the most profound or richest of scripts I'd ever seen put to screen, and didn't have much in the way of plot twists or bombshells to drop. I had no real complaints. This is primarily a visual experience after all, and I don't begrudge it this. I don't think it was under any illusions that it was any other way. The script gets the film along, and never shrivels under the effects, or gets bogged down in exposition and muddled plotting, as I said it is a well paced, tightly woven piece. It would have been easy for the film to neglect the plot points of the toxic atmosphere (to humans) and the leads paralysis, but they are put to good use in the film, so well done there.
As I said this isn't the most subtle of stories I've seen, and my main qualms about the film are in this area. The baddy marines are a case in point. They seem to be hired from the "Rednecks and Hicks, Token Cipher Bad Guys" agency. Honestly when they are trotting out about every red-necked cliche, in the briefing scene at the end, I thought they were literally going to start denying evolution and climate change, whilst heckling Barack Obama as a communist who was born in Kenya. Likewise the Navi are a bit too squeaky clean, all the stubborn traditions, noble spirituality and puppy dog eyes are wheeled out to the utter limit. But then the film wants you to think that way about them, so we'll give that the benefit of the doubt.
But that aside. I really enjoyed Avatar. James Cameron has set out to rewrite the rules in visuals and my god he's succeeded. This is about as close as you can get to seeing a truly alien world as is possible. Brilliant effects with a zappy fast paced plot, that doesn't resort to self indulgent CGI scenes that are just window dressing, that maintains itself over a 3 hours that passes by quickly. That's no mean feat to pull off, and I recommend you go and see it soon as, you won't be disappointed.
Rating 8.5 / 10.
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