Beautiful, but ultimately shallow...

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2010)

Let's start with the obvious. There is no doubt this one's a looker. *Brilliant* design, graphics, CGI, all that. A stunning array of colors, some perhaps never seen before on the silver screen (neon butter-cream yellow, acid-trip apple green, radioactive turqouise)will not fail to dazzle your peepers, especially in 3-D. So if you're looking for a visual feast then you'll find your surfeit here, no question. It's an absolute orgy for the eyes in every way...
Buuuuut...One your heart stops pounding and your eyes take a rest, and some of that unique cinematic excitement dies down you might find yourself a little less hot for this shallow beauty.
But while you're waiting for that to happen the inevitable questions emerge, and those little flaws you barely noticed the first time around rear their nagging little heads. For instance, what was so special, so amazing about that element, Unobtainium? (which, by the way, is an awful name, lacks imagination and sounds way too comic-booky) Why would they invest so much time, money and energy in the Avatar program studying the Na'vi and attempting to establish diplomatic relations when in the end they simply destroyed the Home Tree with Big Bad Bombs and called it a day? Why make such a big deal about the connectivity of the Na'vi (I was getting really excited about the possibilities, like what if they might be able to "log in" to the human's weapons systems and wreak havoc-'cause nothing's more fun than wreaking' a little havoc) with brain power alone? Just as they "connected" with those weird horse-like things and those Playdough-colored Pterodactyl things, they could have done the same with the human weapons or at *least* their computer systems...
But aside from the tempting what if's, there are also several disturbing philosophical/spiritual questions left unanswered. The Na'vi bodies made in the lab for the Avatar program...how could they be completely soulless, merely empty shells? Whether or not you believe in a soul, how could these bodies be (conveniently) empty of an original personality? Really think about that one for a minute. Everything is there; a brain, organs, tissue. It is a genuine living body, mix of human and Na'vi DNA or not, so why isn't there anybody home? Memories and experience, we might argue, make the personality, not the organic matter, but still...it's a legitimate question when you really think about it.
Another question: what was Colonel Quaritch's damage? He was a badly drawn villain (though Stephen Lang delivered that badness with true style and panache) who seemed as mechanical and two-dimensional as the mecha suits (anime reference!) he wore. Why was he so angry with Sully? Why was killing Sully so very important? Wasn't his mission (to blow up Home Tree to get to the Unobtanium) far more important than exacting revenge on one lone (rogue) soldier? There are also a whole host of disturbing suggestions and implications about race, about aboriginal people. Why did they need a foreign hero to help them strategize and coordinate a counter attack? They didn't have this ability themselves? It was said that they needed Sully's memories and experiences to fight back effectively. But those arrows were doing the job just fine, thank you, with the help of their remarkable close combat skills and that giant, red, bad** bird...thing...
And how come they all spoke such excellent English? Taught or not, you think they would prefer to speak exclusively in their native language. Which in turn brings us to their native religion. The scene where they were linked together, sitting cross-legged and chanting on the glowing moss was almost as bad as any scene out of an old King Kong flick. They could have been wearing grass skirts and chanting "ooga booga" and you wouldn't know the difference. That's how superficial and simplistic that "ceremony" was...it was almost cringe worthy.
But hey. Hellavu looker. Great effects, and all that. Lots of chest-pounding moments to stir the blood and loins to great effect. But after the spectacle, not much remains...