Ground-breaking stuff, but not necessarily new

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2009)

I'll admit I was slightly hesitant about seeing Avatar, saturated as it was with an enormous build-up and crazed reviews heralding it as the next great step in film-making. However, I think it's important to have one's own opinions of movies like this, as it would be easy to become prejudiced against them owing to the deluge of commercial hype. And I was pleased that I did choose to see it, especially as James Cameron's terrific special effects are surely best viewed on the big screen with the aid of 3D.
And surely the special effects are the key feature of the film. The sheer time, skill and - of course - expense that has gone into the creation of the visuals in Avatar must be unprecedented, and the way in which live action and CGI are brought together is completely new. Rightly, these effects are made the focal point of the film and as much time as possible is given over to showcasing the amazing animation. Some of the action scenes are truly awe-inspiring.
However, it would be wrong to say that Avatar totally lived up to its hype. In many ways it's a very basic action film and whilst it will undoubtedly be festooned with awards on the technical side, the actors are unlikely to get anything more then reflected praise. In some ways, I think it was a deliberate choice to make the actors almost a secondary part of the movie so as not to take away from the visual experience. Sam Worthington is a reasonable tough-guy leading man, but is pretty much personality-free, while Sigourney Weaver is probably miscast as his experienced scientist mentor. That said, they are not helped by a grimly banal script which falls down in all its attempts at humour or wisecracks. Honourable mentions should go, though, to Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Lang who are both highly watchable in the two lead bad guy roles.
But I think what really stops this film from truly excelling is the plot. Some might argue that the story is not vital in this type of film, but I can't help but feel that a more original and gripping plot could have pushed this film into a higher echelon. Without giving too much away, Avatar has an extremely strong resemblance to Dances With Wolves in many ways, yet in a kind of watered-down and more superficial way. Understandable, I suppose, as the target audience for Avatar is younger. But for an older audience hoping to see a wholly original piece, this may prove a stumbling block.
I suppose the final point to make about Avatar, and films like it, is to wonder just how far films really can be improved by CGI and effects in general. In this case, hundreds of CGI technicians and animators have spent an inordinate amount of time creating an amazing visual world with characters to inhabit it and for that they should be applauded. But have they actually created a new film? Something we hadn't seen or considered before? Personally, I don't think so. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think it does suggest that there are limits to what great effects can add to a film beyond what human beings and their emotions can.
Avatar is a ground-breaking venture in many ways and delivers solidly as a mega-budget, formulaic action adventure with literally stunning special effects. Will it prove as influential as Star Wars? Probably not. Will it change cinema forever? Unlikely. But the hyperbole that surrounded its release shouldn't stop anyone from appreciating what it does have to offer.