The future is here

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2010)

Hype can be a very dangerous thing. Though it is a valuable marketing tool, it can also raise expectations to a point beyond which it becomes quite inevitable that the film in question will disappoint at least on one level. In the case of Avatar, promises of a new, "revolutionary" film-making style came along with the fact that for an entire generation of film-lovers - i.e. those who were born in the '90s - James Cameron is a genius, but also the pompous buffoon who proclaimed himself "King of the world" when Titanic broke box-office records and won 11 Oscars (some of which should have gone to L.A. Confidential). This time, however, the hype was entirely justified: Avatar, Cameron's first feature project in 12 years, is indeed an amazing achievement.
Returning to his genre of choice, namely science-fiction, the director takes us to a new world, named Pandora, an ideal place for colonization in a future where most of Earth's resources have run out (a subtle social commentary?). Since the air on Pandora is toxic to humans, interactions with the indigenous population, called Na'vi, are made easier thanks to "avatars": artificial human-Na'vi hybrids remotely controlled by selected members of a science program. One of these people is Jake Sully (a charismatic Sam Worthington), a crippled Marine who signs up for the gig when promised a chance to be able to walk again. His pragmatism takes a step back, however, when he learns to appreciate the lifestyle of the blue, huge, feline-shaped Na'vi and falls for one of them, the beautiful Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Problems begin when it becomes clear corporations and military (represented by Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Lang) don't care about the inhabitants, only the planet's resources. Which side will Jake choose?
Yes, the story isn't very original: part Dances with Wolves, part Pocahontas, it's a classic Western film subject in a sci-fi environment. But it's also pure Cameron: man versus technology (ironic, given the director's penchant for pushing the technical envelope on every movie he makes), strong female characters (Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez and Ripley herself, aka Sigourney Weaver), tragic love (although the two blue creatures kissing gets close to ridiculous), James Horner's epic score (complete with a song over the end credits), grandiose battles. As is often the case, what matters is not what kind of story the director tells, but how he does it.
And how does Cameron do it? He takes us to strange, new worlds with an energy and a passion reminiscent of Peter Jackson (Pandora does look a bit like Middle Earth in places), providing a feast for the eyes without ever losing track of the story. To achieve this, he personally developed a new 3D camera and waited over a decade for visual effects to be sufficiently evolved. His patience is well rewarded: instead of the usual "object being thrown at you" effect that is associated with 3D movies, his use of the technology allows one to totally embrace his creation, thanks to a unique sense of depth that gives the impression one actually is there with the characters. Naturally, the third dimension adds extra spectacle come the massive final showdown (which packs a neat Aliens reference, thus uniting the two Camerons - guerrilla auteur and ambitious blockbuster-maker), but the focus is always on setting and characters first, action second.
Avatar is an important film, a fundamental achievement in the entertainment industry. Its existence doesn't mark the death of traditional film-making (honestly, who would want to watch Bergman or Godard in 3D?), but it is a new, exciting side of the art of bringing stories to the big screen. Make no mistake: this is a film that has to be seen in cinemas, and for once, the extra dimension makes all the difference.