Borderline Perfection

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2010)

For a few months I put off watching Avatar because I felt that the trailer simply didn't grab my attention. From my notion of not judging a book by its cover just because the director is a celebrated writer, I shrugged this film off believing the general idea of the film to be either altogether ludicrous or heroically ambitious. After reading numerous reviews, hearing how good it was by word of mouth, and then learning it was fairly high up on the IMDb top 250, I decided to finally watch it. To put it bluntly I was blown away.
I've watched this movie twice. The first time I watched it, I found the first 20-30 minutes to be fairly mediocre, with merely satisfactory character and plot development, however finding that the rest of the movie escalated into a very captivating and enjoyable experience. At the end of the first sitting I thought it was pretty good, but had one or two areas for improvement. After watching it a second time I was largely surprised to find that it simply blew me away as I enjoyed it from the opening sequence, whether this was due to my prior knowledge of what was to come, or simply paying more attention.
The depth of the story is phenomenal, and really kicks into high gear when you start to learn more about the native humanoid clans known as the "Na'vi". Pandora, the world that James Cameron has created is incredibly detailed from the large landscapes to the small wildlife as you explore it through the eyes of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic ex-Marine who came to Pandora following his genetically-identical twin brother's death. As the story progresses his performance gets better and better. Possibly the best display of acting comes from Zoe Saldana, portraying Neytiri, the Na'vi princess of the Omaticaya Clan who brings an electrifying personality to the story. As Jake is taught the way of the Na'vi people by Neytiri, they begin to fall in love in a groundbreaking and emotionally engaging experience as eventually they must fight to protect Pandora from the increasingly destructive and seemingly evil Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who does an excellent job in turning the audience as he becomes ever-more brutal towards the natives. Sigourney Weaver and Joel Moore also pull off their roles as Pandora scientists with perfection in their quest to learn more about the Na'vi as well as eventually helping Jake fight Colonel Quaritch.
The special effects of Avatar, though clearly an unrivalled benchmark in the film industry, have been criticised by other reviewers who believe the film wouldn't be nearly as good were it not for the CGI. My opinion is quite the reverse. Though others may see the special effects as a 'distraction' from a poorly written story derived from other films, I believe the effects are precisely what make the story so effective. I strongly disagree with the notion that Avatar is like Dances With Wolves in some fancy clothes. I think the CGI, though brilliant in itself, is what draws you into this epic adventure as you really connect with the characters and cannot help but get wrapped up in the building tension between the Na'vi and human forces.
On a final note, I think Writer/Director James Cameron hit the nail on the head when he created Avatar, which definitely deserves a spot in the top 100. One of those rare must-see films.
9.7/10