Feature Film Review

Rating:

Director James Cameron is back - back in a big way. The launch of his newest effort entitled Avatar marks his first turn in the director’s chair since 1997’s blockbuster Titanic. But it is not like Cameron has been idle during these apparently barren years. Quite the contrary, this former director of the masterpiece Aliens has had Avatar in the incubator for nearly ten years. This period of gestation has been marked with Cameron’s almost unhealthy ambition to achieve the pinnacle of special effects/3D filmmaking. Just as Titanic floored audiences with the liner’s ill-fated oceanic voyage, Cameron seeks to once again revolutionize the industry. The stars soon aligned for the director when he found himself at the helm of the ultimate weapon – Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop effects company.

Weta, the birthplace of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has allowed Cameron access to one of the most powerful computers in the world in processing digital effects. With such a resource under his control, Cameron decided to take Avatar to the next level and create an alien world from the ground up.

Named Pandora, most likely with Greek myth in mind, the new planet is a rich, bustling biosphere that bursts with rich greens and dazzling fluorescents. Its ten-foot tall inhabitants, the Na’vi, are an equally brilliant blue and have a close symbiotic relationship with Cameron’s vibrant network of life. However, the Na’vi will soon find their beautiful environment threatened when the SecFor Corporation discovers Pandora plentiful deposits of the precious mineral unobtainium.

While SecFor searches for a way to mine the mineral, a quadriplegic marine by the name of Jake Scully arrives at Pandora to join a scientific research team. The marine’s unique DNA has made him eligible to become part of the “Avatar Project” – an experiment that allows a human to take control of a Na’vi host body in order to study the species firsthand. Due to Jake’s hardnosed military background, SecFor convinces him to engage in covert recognizance in exchange for a pair of new legs. However, Jake soon learns to love the Na’vi and realizes that information he provided to SecFor could lead to their ultimate demise.

Why are you acting so distant, Jake?

More like an amusement thrill ride than traditional movie experience; Avatar launches a “shock and awe” campaign of stunning 3D effects. Clearly the film’s pièce de résistance, the visuals leap off the screen as Cameron’s attention to detail comes across as the product of undying dedication or manic compulsion. The film is unlike anything that has ever hit the screen and may in fact be looked upon as watershed down the road.

But is it really that unique? Robert Zemeckis has been doing this form of motion caption (where the real life actions and expressions of actors are blended with digital characters) for quite some time – see Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol. The answer is yes. Avatar is a different breed due to Cameron’s preoccupation with detail - going so far as to make sure that the bark off every tree is easily discernable. And when it takes 100 hours to render each frame of the film’s digital sequences, it helps to be funded to the tune of $300 million.

As breathtaking as the film is visually, the impact of the supreme effects actually does wear off as the film hits the second stage of its 162-minute runtime. The reason, as most anyone can guess with an effects-driven film, comes from a potboiler storyline and uninspiring dialogue. There is just not enough good writing to sustain the film from fading trailing off to the verge of apathy. The fate of the story’s characters unfortunately hangs in a balance leaning towards indifference by the film’s climax.

The acting in Avatar is mostly middle of the road highlighted by the always-capable Sigourney Weaver and Star Trek 2009’s Zoe Zaldana. Other than that there really isn’t that much to speak of. Sam Worthington in the title role is painstakingly average and hardly cements his award for newcomer of the year. Considering the silliness of some of his dialogue it is hard not to empathize with Cameron’s new star. Let’s just say the auspices do not bode well for Worthington’s upcoming remake of The Clash of the Titans.

James Cameron’s Avatar must be broken down into two parts to be properly critiqued. First, there is the effects side that is most certainly revolutionary and the pinnacle of 3D technology. Then comes a predictable story that feels recycled, like some amalgam of most westerns, The Matrix, and David Cronenberg’s eistenz. Speaking of recycled, the story is definitely topical with obvious sociopolitical themes, but these ideas lack energy and often times come across as dated. Are we still taking tired shots at George Bush?

So, you must take the good with the bad and the bad with the good when watching Avatar. Prepare to be both genuinely amazed and severely disappointed from scene to scene. The 3D version is a must as the film proves that the technology is much more than just a gimmick. You realize this when you are handed the revamped 3D glasses that seem more like government issue than any carefree item of recreation. Now, on to the question: where does Avatar stand in James Cameron’s canon of film? Let’s just say that these new blue natives must take a backseat to the Aliens of old.

Adam is the founder of www.featurefilmreview.com. Email comments to adam (at) featurefilmreview (dot) com.