These days, going to the cinema to watch a movie for some; is like a game of chance. Either the movie will blow the audience away, or have them leaving wishing they'd not handed over their hard earned cash in the first place. Avatar may make people want to hand over that little bit more.
The trailers that wet appetites prior to Avatar opening in cinema's, on December 17th 2009 gave away the premise of the movie, which rests on the audience’s ability to suspend their disbelief and buy into a story about blue people. But on the whole it works. The blue people referred to are called, Na’vi. Ten foot tall humanoid aliens that populate a world aptly named, Pandora.
Mining Pandora to Obtain, Unobtainium
Humans, scientists, marines and mercenary-type grunts have landed to either study the planets life forms and vegetation or plunder the natural resource known as, Unobtainium. The largest deposit of it is directly under a massive Na'vi village.
The audience follows wheelchair bound war veteran, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington – Clash of the Titans, 2010) as he; through circumstance and a little coincidence is given the opportunity to remotely control a Na’vi-body and learn more about the native population. In doing so he meets Neytiri (Zoe Saldana – Star Trek, 2009, Vantage Point, 2008) a young Na’vi woman, and the stage is set for a romance that actually doesn’t feel or come across laboured.
Understanding the Na'vi or Infiltrating Them?
Aided by a small group of scientists led by, Dr Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), Jake finds that his activities as a Na’vi increase as he gains the trust of the tribe, but he is conflicted as a soldier, due to being ordered by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang – The Men Who Stare At Goats, 2009) to understand the Na’vi in order to gain a tactical advantage should the time arise. Both Worthington's performance as an injured war veteran and Weaver's hard-nosed yet empathetic scientist were believable and did well to complement an engaging plot.
James Cameron has managed to dust off a storyline he wrote back in 1995 and create a vehicle packed with excitement, wonder and intrigue. Avatar isn’t a conventional movie seeing the viewer rooting for the human race to prevail. Another film, the upcoming: Battle for Terra; widely released in 2009, does much the same, in allowing the audience to empathize with an alien race to an extent that viewers are totally drawn into the plot and its outcome.
Avatar's Special Effects are Unforgettable
The obvious attention to detail with the graphics and set pieces in Avatar are breath-taking. The main cast and additional characters put up some good performances, although the film was also driven more by touches of key narration and smatterings of above decent dialogue.
The build up of tension was great and Cameron wasn’t afraid to strip his characters bare and pit them against overwhelming odds and intense trauma.
Although the running time is 162 minutes the movie is magnetic and keeps attentions focused. The last twenty or so minutes are delightfully packed with an all out war sequence that pays homage in part to, Lord of the Rings, if it happened in the air as well as on land, on a far away planet.
Avatar was more of an experience than a movie in the conventional sense. Great storytelling taken to another level, as well as superb special effects and slick transitions between CGI and real footage. As suggested by Cameron himself: “This is going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.” He didn’t disappoint.
Avatar is estimated to be released on DVD: June 2010
- Avatar
- Starring Sam Worthington
- Written and Directed by James Cameron
- Running time: 162 minutes
Stefan Jeffrey - Stefan Jeffrey is a Goldsmiths University graduate. His area of study was Community and Youth-work of which he has actively worked in for ...
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