Great Film, Amazing Visuals!

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2009)

I went to see this film expecting so much and so very little, I mean James wrote it and directed it, he's a master when it comes to complex projects, however, his biggest; Titanic and Aliens, don't necessarily fall in the category of the best films I have seen, nevertheless, I think, on personal title, he made his way in history with this film (yeah, yeah, Titanic is probably the biggest and most successful film ever), but to me there's way more to say about AVATAR, it is a fresh story with a magnificent production, it deals with things that are so current (wars over resources)but it manages to do it in a parallel context and that's a plus.
I must say, I'm not a scifi lover, if this film falls in that box then now I am, it had so many metaphors I'm still trying to figure some of them out, for instance, Colonel Quaritch stands in metaphor as the Empire, and boy, it gave a hard time trying to make it stumble and fall, but it wasn't impossible. Another thing I couldn't help noticing was the context; It was the AMAZONIA, the biggest water reservoir in the planet, that's war reason 20 years from now, and another thing was the cultural side to it, the indigenes respect the Earth as much as the rest of the world should but doesn't do, it is magical the way the Na'Vi's relate to Mother Earth, and that's one thing I must simply, get up and applause to.
Speaking about the actors, it wasn't really an acting film, although Weaver was superb as she always is, the rest of the cast played it well, and stands out as much as they needed to in a "animated" feature, if you allow me.
Technically it was flawless, the managed to create or recreate an environment that was so perfect you couldn't realize which parts were real and which parts weren't. Stunning cinematography; everything we saw was beautiful and endearing. The visual effects gig at the Oscar's has to go to this one, please, it was amazing. Sound mixing and editing were out of this world, and do not get me started on its production design; it was an spectacle. Well, actually, I can't really say it was flawless; I hated the score, the dramatic musical background kept bringing me back to Titanic's score, and that's a bummer, and of course, James Horner did the music of both films, and has composed for most of Cameron's films.
To wrap it up, it is a must see, and I predict it'd be getting a lot of recognition in the upcoming award season, it definitely deserves it. Avatar a great story, it has it all, from indigenes to marines, from action to drama and romance, and its mysticism accentuated by its created language it's a thrill... Go see it, you'll enjoy it!