If you are willing to be amazed, Avatar delivers

Rating: 8/10 (14 January 2010)

There is a definite downside to overhyping. It doesn't matter how good the movie is, if its being touted as the next coming of Christ, anything short of that will be met by with rage from the fanboys. After the first trailer, Avatar seemed to be clearly heading into this territory. A seemingly predictable plot, strange looking blue people and a bunch of unknowns boded poorly for the movies success. I myself was unassured, but knew it had to be seen anyways. I'm glad I did, because Avatar is the best blockbuster experience of the year, although not without its faults.
Avatar skips through the opening pretty quickly, starting off with paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully (Worthington) awakening after a six year journey to the new world Pandora. Pandora is littered with various dangerous creatures, spirit dandelions and a valuable rock known as Unobtanium, but most importantly for our purposes the hyper-spiritual humanoid race known as the Na'vi. Unfortunately, the Na'vi have settled right on top of the richest Unobtanium reserve on the planet. Industrialist Parker Selfridge (Ribisi, with the least subtle character name ever) wants them off, and ex-Marine mercenary Quatrich (Lang) is more than willing to blow them to hell to get them to move. The science team, led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Weaver) is more interested in studying the Na'vi and their connections to the Earth, and want a diplomatic solution to the mining issue. When Sully's brother on the science team is murdered, he is brought in due to his genetic structure being compatible with his brother's avatar, a Na'vi-human crossbreed body that can be controlled remotely.
Sully's job to infiltrate the Na'vi becomes more complicated when he begins to fall for their culture, their spirituality and Neytiri (Saldana), a warrior princess. The core plot itself unfolds very predictably, and from the trailers alone the basic structure is given completely. The plot moves along at a brisk enough pace though that, even if its coloured within the lines, its a fun journey to take.
My biggest gripe with the movie is the lack of subtlety in the spirituality of the film. The deity Ewya that the Na'vi believe in is invoked far too much, oftentimes unnecessarily. It gives the movie a bit too much of a tree-huggy nature to it at times, and could have been done without.
The plot is clearly meant to parallel Iraq, and as such many of the humans are portrayed as boneheaded violence monkeys (guess which side thats supposed to be). There are a couple characters to offset this thankfully, but enough need to be still violence monkeys to allow for the climactic battle, which is like a ramped up version of the Ewok fight in Return of the Jedi. Its an amazing action setpiece, and if thats the sole reason you wish to see the movie, it will not disappoint.
The effects were one of the most hyped up aspects of the movie, and they do not disappoint at all. The computer effects are some of the best ever seen on screen, and succeed in creating an entire new world. The Na'vi people themselves manage to avoid the "uncanny valley" effect and are entirely believable, rarely seeming robotic or, well, computerized. The environment is completely believable, but not that far above what one sees in modern video games. Some of the landmarks, such as the floating mountains, are a bit excessive. Sci-fi can explain away many things, but gravity should still make the mountains rest on the ground. And what the hell is a flux vortex or whatever, aren't we above making up sci-fi gibberish? The 3D effect is very well done. The only time I'd seen it done well before was in Up, where it was subtle to the point of almost being unnoticeable. In this case, it is noticeable, but never distracts from whats important. There are no pop-out moments to draw attention to it, but the effect works wonders to immerse the viewer in the movie.
Cameron wisely stuck away from A-listers, with B-list recognizable faces mixed with complete unknowns. Sigourney Weaver is by far the biggest star in her movie, but is believable enough in her determination (a very similar performance to her own in Gorillas in the Mist) to not let this get in the way. Worthington, a complete unknown before production on Avatar started, is an excellent lead and can possibly become the next big action star. Saldana brings a very elegant flow to Neytiri, and Ribisi is an excellent pigheaded moneyman.
The true standout in my opinion is Lang as former Colenol Quatrich, the badass mercenary who warns of the low gravity making the marines "soft". Lang, who showed his funny side with a memorable role in The Men Who Stare at Goats, now portrays one of the most convincing and frighteningly badass villains in film. Its one hell of an entertaining performance, and here's hoping creates many an internet fad.
Avatar is an excellent blockbuster, but the predictibility of the story perhaps makes it slightly less than the heights the fanboys had hoped. Still, its an amazingly entertaining movie, and a must-see experience. Just try not to get over-hyped.