A most grpping film, not a master-piece

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 2009)

In my opinion, this film does a great job at what most viewers expect of cinema - it entirely sucks you into its imaginative world. It does a less compelling job when it comes to being a work of art - one that intrigues the mind and emotion and leaves a great feeling or something new to think about after it ends.
The reason for this is that the story really isn't too exciting. There's nothing new in it - its the same Pocahontas story we all know. The characters are all clichéd: Jack is reckless yet brave, Tsu'tey (the proposed clan chief) is a ruthless, nationalist warrior, the villain Colonel Quaritch is truly a bad*** mother****** but nothing more. It goes on and on. There's no characterization, no extra depth that is given to any of the characters. The narrative, seemingly, suffers from the same problems. We know that Neytiri is going to feel betrayed when she finds out about Jack's original goal; we know the rhino-like beasts will help the Nabi when trouble comes; and we know Jack will become the next Turuk (can't remember the exact name right now). Speaking of characterization - we are expected to believe there's something special (messiah-like) in Jack simply by other characters in the story saying it. We don't get to see it too much for ourselves. The only unique thing Jack does - conquering this Turuk - we don't even get to see. On the contrary, we get to see him controlling his Avatar very easily, learning how to fly his beast (before the Turuk) and some floating, souls-representing things that mark him as special (and convince Neytiri that he is). None of these events are strong enough in building Jack's messianic traits. Take 'Dances with Wolves' as an example of how to build characters. The protagonist and his feminine partner in the narrative are part of a familiar story - like this one - yet they are characters with more personality and past. They are more alive. This is partly because they are written better, and partly because they are directed better. In this area - I think Cameron does only a fair job as a writer, and a slightly better job as a director.
As opposed to the narrative, Cameron's work as a writer and even more so as a director in regards to the atmosphere is outstanding. I think this is the true achievement of the film: it is more of an atmosphere film than a narrative film. It truly enchanted me not through its gripping story, but through the world it introduced me to, a world that became more real and familiar as the story went along. The world is not as imaginative as I could expect. All of us (those who are interested in Sci-Fi at least) came across magnificent forests with plants that look like giant mushrooms, beasts with more than 4 legs, a giant tree where cities are emerged, and the like. That's why Cameron's achievement is more in directing and less in writing. For even though the ideas are quite common, they have never managed to capture us like in this film. It has a lot to do with the breakthrough visuals (on which I'm not even going to elaborate for its well obvious and overly discussed) - both the 3D and the unbelievable CGI - but has also a lot to do with how Cameron has decided to depict his world. Gradually introducing us to more exciting areas in the planet, to a point where we even feel familiar with some of them (when the last battle occurs at those flying mountains area, we feel connected to the place, since so many other things have happened there before - things we were a part of). The contrast between the dream-like forests and the cold interiors of the human headquarters also contribute to the magnetizing effect of the world. For the 2.5 hours of the film, we ARE part of that world, DESPITE the somewhat dullness of the story.
To sum it up - Cameron has created a fantastic world and showed it to us as nothing had ever been shown in film history, yet he chose a rather phlegmatic story to tell in it.