Pocahontas in A Moon

Rating: Null/10 (15 April 2010)

After more than a decade, James Cameron makes quite a returns with 'Avatar'. The idea of John Smith meeting Pocahontas at a moon is quite intriguing. Cameron's Pandora is fascinating to look at. The last time I saw a fictitious place this spectacular was in Hayao Miyzaki's spellbinding 'Mononoke Hime'.
The CGI designs, especially of the jungle and its inhabitants are intricately detailed and pleasantly colourful (even though the stop motion is still prominent). Needless to say, on the technical front, pretty much everything from action sequences, soundtrack, sound effects to cinematography are brilliant.
However, 'Avatar' isn't without its share of flaws especially where the writing is concerned. Considering that it's an epic film, a formulaic story is expected, with lots of battle sequences, romance etc but Cameron introduces certain themes but he doesn't really go anywhere with them. An example is Grace's theory about the trees communicating through synapses like the human brain (or perhaps Cameron left this open for a possible sequel?). Moreover, there are a few plot holes. How come all the animals (with the exception of the horselike creatures) are predators? How come the Na'Vi speak such good English? The acting is fairly good. However, Sam Worthington's performance isn't exactly flawless. His acting is flat in a few sequences but in other he manages to make it work. Giovanni Ribisi's villain is formulaic but it's refreshing to see him do something different for a change and he does it well. Zoe Saldana is impressive as Pocahontas, I mean, Neytiri. Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez are first rate.
Overall, 'Avatar' is visually pleasing and entertaining. As flawed as it may be, it's a much more exhilarating film than Cameron's horrendous candyfloss called 'Titanic