Visually astounding and emotionally compelling

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2010)

There comes a moment about two-thirds of the way into Avatar. The medicine woman of the Na'avi, wonderfully interpreted by CCH Pounder, watches as the home which has housed her tribe for generations is obliterated by the corporation mercenaries out for the ore that lies beneath it. She lets out a howl of anguish and the look on her face is the pure stunned horror of one seeing their dreams and heritage destroyed in one fell swoop. It is at that moment that I realized that James Cameron had succeeded and had not only drawn me into his story, not just visually, but emotionally, and had managed to make a strange race of blue aliens vibrantly accessible and credible beings. Visually the film is beyond critique. It succeeds beautifully in whisking one away to a world that heretofore could only have been imagined and, even then very limitedly. The film opens with former Marine Jake Sully pressed into service to step in for his deceased brother to utilize an avatar - a DNA-mixed hybrid of human and Na'avi - to attempt to learn what he can about the natives of the planet Pandora, who are proving problematic to the corporation and their hired gun mercenaries who wish to exploit the planet for their gain. He agrees to spy for gung-ho military overseer Quaritch, but ostensibly answers to scientist Grace Augustine who supervises the project. Despite his initial reluctance, Jake integrates into a tribe of Na'avi and learns to love his life in the avatar, and the humble lifestyle of the Na'avi as well. The planet Pandora is character onto itself - a stunning vista that seems constantly alive with vibrance, light and motion. Cameron has cast the film perfectly as well. Sam Worthington is restrained enough to be the perfect conduit for the viewer to enter Pandora, yet charismatic enough to be the kind of leader that one could believe in. Zoe Saldana amazingly interprets the Na'avi princess making her an inspirational character. Supporting roles are ably filled by Stephen Lang as a hissable villain, Sigourney Weaver in a wonderful turn as Dr. Augustine and Michelle Rodriguez, finally in an appealing role. A lot of criticism has been directed at the dialog, but any writing major can tell you that a screenplay is much more than dialog. It is primarily structure and Avatar is structured brilliantly - further none of the dialog rings hollow to my ears. Quaritch and company may be a bit one-track, but one would also be lying if they denied that their real life counterparts are easy to point out. Similarly, the dialog sounds fine to my ears - scientists talk like I imagine scientists to talk like (when an injured Weaver rouses herself enough to muse "I need to take samples" - it feels right!), military talk like what I have heard military talk like, and the dialog between Jake and the Na'avi seems to me unpretentious and works all the better because of that approach. I have heard rumblings of a sequel, but they really should not proceed down that line as this story concludes on a perfect note and needs no further expansion. I look forward to visiting Pandora and its denizens many times in the future, but at my movieplex or home video screen, not in a sequel. Avatar is a visually astounding and emotionally compelling film experience worth the ride.