Welcome back, Mr. Cameron!

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2009)

On the distant forest moon of Pandora, the giant blue-colored native, the na'vis, resist the human militarized corporation who wants to exploit the precious metal in the ground of a planet. A group of scientist lead by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), who are able to download their mind into human-na'vi hybrid called avatars, are charged to find a diplomatic solution before the forces of Colonel Miles Quarich (Stephen Lang) takes charge. Joining the team following the death of his twin brother is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine who is now paraplegic.
Not counting the various documentaries he was involved with, "Avatar" is James Cameron's first cinematic outing since his 1997 box-office behemoth "Titanic". Was it worth the wait? Absolutely though it is also displays some serious flaws.
So let's start with the weak point of "Avatar": the story. Not that it is bad. Actually, compared to the plot-hole ridden joke of a script that serves as a lame excuse for a story in most contemporary blockbusters, it is really good, with solid characters. But it is also wholly unoriginal and extremely predictable. Basically, if you have seen "Dances with wolves" or "The last samurai", you know what will happen in "Avatar" (the comparison with "Dances with wolves" notably is almost impossible to avoid given that the na'vis are obviously patterned over native Americans. Inspirations from "Jurassic Park", Peter Jackson's version of "King Kong", as well as Cameron's own "Aliens" can also be spotted here and there). This is made even worse by a tendency to phone in most of the plot development. When a na'vi tells Jake that only 5 times in the history of her people has a particularly fearsome monster been tamed, you know that Jake will tame one later, which allows you to predict how the story should unfold. The same way, once the same character tells Jake some action he is taking before the climatic battle is useless, you know exactly how the said battle will unfold. Story wise, "Avatar" reserves no surprise: You know what you're going to get way before it actually happens on the screen.
Also, in order to better hammer his new-wavy ecological anti-militaristic message (it's worth noting that given the current concerns about climate change, "Avatar" could not have been released at a better time as it seems to perfectly capture the current pro-environment zeitgeist), the world of "Avatar" is depicted in a way that does not allow any shade of grays: You have bad evil people on side and good pure ones on the other and they don't mix! The brute force of the military walking hand in hand with rich corporate sleezeballs, both aimed at destruction, one for the sheer joy of it, the other for greed and profit vs. humanistic scientists and pure natives aimed at preserving a way of life in harmony with the environment.
This could have destroyed any other movie. But sometimes it is not the story you're telling, it is how you tell it. Pushing the technological envelope on the level of computer-generated environment and motion-captured, the movie is a triumph of epic storytelling unseen since at least the last installment of the "The lord of the rings". The incredibly detailed and beautiful landscape of Pandora, exploding with brightly colored exotic plants and animals, make for an incredibly immersive experience. And of course, the amazing motion capture technology takes to a new level the foundations laid by Peter Jackson with Gollum in "The lord of the rings" and by ILM with Davy Jones and his crew in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead men's chest" in terms of integration of real actors with digital characters. While most of the time, all the characters on screen are computer generated, we never have the impression to watch a cartoon, thanks notably to the amazing amount of emotion their faces are able to express. Some scenes are absolutely exhilarating (notably the flight scenes and the reveal of the hanging mountains). Moreover, "Avatar" serves as a healthy reminder that James Cameron is one of the best action director alive, and that all the Michael Bay in the world could take some lessons for him.
I saw the movie in 3D but I'm not sure how much it contributed to the immersive experience that was "Avatar". This is the second movie in 3D that I saw after "Coraline" and I overall don't share everybody's enthusiasm for this format. After 30 minutes, I usually forget about the 3D, if not for the strain on my eyes, although it is possible the 3D effect mmight still play at an unconscious level to make the movie more immersive. But I overall doubt it and, for me at least, the 3D does not add much: I'm sure "Avatar" would have been just as enthralling in 2D.
A masterpiece of epic storytelling that even its cliché and unsurprising story could not bring down and a new landmark in digital movie-making, "Avatar" is without a doubt the best blockbuster to hit the screen since hobbits roamed Middle-Earth. Welcome back, Mr. Cameron. We missed you!