Fun, but not a masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2009)

James Cameron sure is a brilliant filmmaker. Most of his films have been memorable not just as fun stories, but also as great examples of experimental cinematography. Avatar is one such film.
Having spent ten years in film hiatus after Titanic, James Cameron returns to the big screen set to change Hollywood. And sure, technically, the film is surprising. The visuals look more like a Blu-ray DVD than traditional 24 frames per second film. Unfortunately, it is not the peak in cinematography it's been hyped to be.
For starters, the script is rather formulaic, and not just similar to other films like Dances with Wolves or Pocahontas. Several elements are taken directly from previous James Cameron works. The use of gigantic android vehicles is clearly drawn from Aliens (and also from The Matrix Revolutions). Some script resources are straight from Titanic, particularly an intermission where the main characters have sex.
The whole production details about creating a whole new culture make Cameron seem like a brilliant storyteller, but in reality, these type of things are done every time in other Sci-Fi and/or Fantasy productions.
Bottom line is, the story is not original.
The performances are not as important as the visuals here, but Cameron does know how to avoid the special effects from detracting the cast. Despite Sam Wothington and Zoe Saldanha's talents in acting, they're rather wasted when they're in CGI and in Na'Vi form. Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi work perfectly. The rest of the cast does a great job.
There's an interesting parallel with the production and the score by James Horner. No matter how you look at it, this just isn't going to be another Titanic. Musically, it's not a breakthrough, since previous themes and constructs are from other scores, including surprising though pleasant portions of Apocalypto, and the ever so present "danger theme", which nearly ruins the "War" track. Add to this a pop song performed by Leona Lewis at the end (an irritating Horner tradition ever since Titanic), and you'll have a testament of elements that are placed to make the soundtrack work, but you've already heard them in better places.
The special effects are top notch, making such complex shots and sequences look realistic and compelling. The technical aspect of the film is the real champion for it's Oscar potential, with the 3D cameras, which are officially an invention by Cameron, doing an exemplary job. However, despite the versatile effects of shooting CGI and live action simultaneously, the Na'Vi still look fake. It's rather unfortunate that the spectacular landscapes are more realistically rendered than the moving inhabitants of this world of Pandora. The work done is not a cornerstone, but it sure is a good precursor of a new age in technical innovations.
Cameron made a huge fuss when releasing his Avatar, but, honestly, he doesn't have the right. The title dispute over The Last Airbender seems unfair, since the former was an already established franchise and Cameron's ego wouldn't let him let his pet project be altered in any way. The project wasn't that worthy of attention.
As it is with the director, it's his movie, and it is fun and technically groundbreaking, but it's not a masterpiece. It's a great way to close the decade, but it's also a sign of better things yet to come.