Avatar

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2010)

Just as I did in Star Trek, I'm going to again single out Zoe Saldana as the one who walks off with the show. Granted this time her wonderful performance is only made possible through the truly, truly astounding work the tech guys did on bringing the Na'vi to life, but still, her character (well-written, strong, developed) is all her own. She's like a proper kick-ass, fully-formed, independent, very sexy (yes you read that right; move over Jessica Rabbit) fiery, spunky heroine, and I thought she was awesome. It's her - not Sam Worthington and her, just her - who gives the film such real heart and means the emotional stuff really does work exactly as it was intended to.
In 3D IMAX the spectacle is immense. I don't quite know what I was expecting for this - my first time seeing either 3D or IMAX - but as soon as I walked in I dialled down my expectations a touch. The whole 3D thing is brilliant, and although I unfortunately had the projectionist's reflection at the extreme right of my vision, and - undoubtedly due to my somewhat poor eyesight - it occasionally became a little "squinty" around the edges, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not all of Pandora is photo-real (and alarmingly, not in the opening shot!) but much of it is. And I mean photo-real. The thrilling first scene set at night, with the forest illuminated only by a touch of moonlight and Jake's flaming torch is for me the technical standout (the Na'vi notwithstanding) because everything in the frame looked absolutely real, yet none of it was. At many times during the film I had no idea where to put my eyes. There was so much going on, and the screen was so big, the detail so vivid, the design so spectacular.
My major fears about the content of the film itself proved unfounded. No it's not a groundbreaking plot, but the presentation makes it feel - if not new - certainly nowhere near as hackneyed as it might seem on paper. The characterisation is about what you'd expect from a film of its type, and if Sam Worthington doesn't make much of an impression as Jake, Saldana, the always-brilliant Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver all impress to one degree or another. Thanks to the technical achievements the plight of the Na'vi is often heartbreaking. They're big blue aliens but before long they were as real to me as anything else. Once key scene where they're subjected to a horrendous attack seems to last forever, and is a forceful and tragic piece of cinema the likes of which modern Hollywood event pictures never see. This was the part where I was closest to welling up, although there was a touch of that kind of thing towards the end.
The Iraq/Afghanistan allusions (is that the right word?) are blatant; impossible to miss. I personally don't think that counts as heavy-handed though, not in this kind of film. Cameron's not making an allegory here, he's not making a political point, he's not even asking us to think. He's merely saying "What happens on Pandora has many similarities to what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan" and nothing more.
The action sequences are spaced out nicely and none of them outstay their welcome as is almost always the case in my opinion. They're approached in the same visionary manner as everything else that even the familiar seems fresh. The final battle was awesome (even if Jake's pathetic rallying speech before it was a shocking damp squib.) The humour - all of it - works.
The score is good, but it blatantly rips off Enemy at the Gates at one point, and Aliens in another.
I have a feeling this rating will go down on subsequent viewings, but as it stands now I can't find significant fault with it; its strengths and achievements tower over and so thoroughly dominate what weaknesses it may have; and I honestly can't remember the last time I was this excited about a film after I've seen it that it's top marks from me.
The sheer magnitude of that scene where they're destroying Hometree was staggering. I thought, They're not going to nuke it? Well then how will they destroy something that huge? Then the ships lined up and started a very familiar, almost mundane pounding. And pounding. And I realised that's how they were going to do it. Endless waves of artillery. They're just going to keep chipping away at this noble tree with their ignoble weapons until it falls. That was all just tragic to me. It's a testament to the writing, the acting and the CGI that this destruction felt so... wrong.
I loved Jake fending off the "dogs" before he meets Netiri. As great as anything I've seen in recent sci-fi. Loved the design of everything, especially inside Hometree with the vines. That exhilarating ride/climb/jump (!!!) up to the Hallelujah Mountains was another standout moment; in fact the whole sequence was. As they leapt from the tip of that vine my heart jumped into my throat along with them. Later when Jake's wrestling that banshee and he slips over the edge I had a similar reaction. Breathtaking stuff.
It's rare these days to get a proper, honest-to-goodness look at something (Quantum of Solace, Transformers step forward) but Cameron's eye is so keen that he's confident enough in everything to put it all up there on the screen. Ebert was right about the way he spent the money. Every penny is up there, without question.