Saw past the sparkle to nothing underneath

Rating: 2/10 (26 August 2010)

This movie is another shining example of how pretty special effects can hide a story with absolutely no real substance, no imagination, and cliché characters that have been done a million times before. Only reason I didn't give it a 1 was because said visuals were better than most. However, as classic movies exist with absolutely terrible visual effects, we need to fall back on plot, characters, story and message (if it exists, here, it does) into account.
Simply put...if you've seen Fern Gully? You've basically seen this movie already.
All the same elements are in both: a young girl of an indigenous, foresty species...the indigenous boy who likes her...the human that integrates and falls in love with the indigenous young girl...the old indigenous lady who knows everything...and humans razing the beauty of nature in an attempt to make money. This movie's story focuses around Jake, a paralyzed man who takes part in a military operation to another planet (populated by blue Indians...sorry...Native Americans) that involves implanting his consciousness into an artificial version of a member of the indigenous species. The idea is that the government agents in charge hope that he can convince the natives to willfully turn over the source of their energy so that the evil, wicked, despicable humans can steal and rape their land for resources...you know, like humans always do. No chance, by the way, that human special interest groups on Earth would have stopped this before it happened, is there? Nah...
In the process, Jake is able to experience life with his legs again (a really tacked on aspect to add urgency to a character that's so boiler plate, a child could have come up with it). Jake plays the typical white American that goes to another land and attempts to communicate with others by simply speaking English and moving his hands. He quickly meets a girl with a long name that starts with N, that I still can't remember, and whether or not they end up together by the end...well...let's just say, it's pretty predictable.
Not only did James Cameron rip off the idea of humans bringing destruction to a beautiful woodland vicinity in the name of greed, he also made the movie especially topical by ripping off sayings from former President George W. Bush, such as "fight terror with terror," in an attempt to make the humans look even more evil, insensitive and barbaric.
I'm an author that's written numerous books, and I find such tactics in storytelling to be cheap, easy, unimaginative and useless when addressing how high or low creativity standards should lie. It's sad that movie-making greatness is reduced to flashy computer graphics, exploiting references to the most vicious and underhanded attack on American soil in history, and wearing glasses for three hours.
Can't wait for Avatar 2...I hear it's going to take place in the Waters of Pandora...so we're going be underwater, probably more bubble effects...
Lovely...