On a scale of one to Casablanca, this film is a "Un Chien Andalou" (1929

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2010)

Review:
Say what you will about its similarities to 'Pocahontas' or 'Fern Gully' or 'The Smurfs,' James Cameron's 'Avatar' is a film experience like no other. If it does not win every category for special effects at this year's Oscars I will hang up my hat and sail for strange new lands with better awards for films because I will know the Academy has no bearings on reality.
'Avatar' is James Cameron's first film since his 1997 megahit 'Titanic.' In some respects, 'Avatar' is a return home for James Cameron. He is at home in the science fiction genre having delivered us such gems as "Terminator" (1984) "Aliens" (1986) "The Abyss" (1989) and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991). But while those films depicted grizzly and bleak predictions for humanity, 'Avatar' invests itself in the concept of natural beauty and the necessity to save it.
We never go to earth in 'Avatar' but we meet many earthlings – all Americans – and we are informed that earth has been stripped barren of its natural resources. Subsequently, a giant military operation has been set up on Pandora, a distant planet lush with forests and seas and floating mountains. The military and earth's corporations seek to obtain a resource conveniently called unobtanium (want to guess if the humans succeed in getting it?). Pandora is rich in the element. Unfortunately, a great source of unobtanium is located right under a giant tree where the peaceful indigenous people of Pandora, the Na'vi, live.
The Na'vi are nine foot tall, blue humanoids with tails and yellow eyes. They commune with the nature of Pandora and generally live like composites of every indigenous people you could see in a movie. The invading humans have found that the best way to learn and communicate with the Na'vi is by using avatars - genetically engineered Na'vi clones that are controlled by the mind of American soldiers from a remote location. The hero of 'Avatar' is Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine who's asked to become an avatar after his twin brother, who initially was to be the avatar, dies.
The film begins with Jake Sully arriving on Pandora. He meets the lead scientists in the Avatar program, Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver). She's a tough talking smoker scientist but she is one of the good guys, promoting the preservation of Pandora and the Na'vi culture. Jake also meets Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), a military man who has eyes only for his missions. As you can probably guess, he's the bad guy.
Jake Sully is put into his Avatar and immediately thrilled to be able to walk and have the prowess of a Na'vi. On his first mission though he becomes separated from the group and finds himself at the mercy of Pandora's not-too-hospitable woodland critters. He is saved by a beautiful Na'vi princess named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Soon Jake is integrated into Na'vi culture, practicing their many rituals and learning their language. He falls in love with Neytiri and after some love making decides the Na'vi way of life is not so bad.
Now, of course, the conflict is that Jake loves the Na'vi but he's in the service of a military that wants to destroy them and steal their unobtanium. Who will Jake side with - the war- like, profiteering humans or the peace loving blue people? Well, if you can't figure it out, I'll let it surprise you.
The special effects in 'Avatar' are why you should see this film. I have read that there are internet forums where people claim they feel depressed or even suicidal after seeing 'Avatar' because compared to Pandora, our world is a bit too dreary for them. At first I scoffed at this thought. I thought it was testament to how many people are living in a mindset a bit removed from reality. Now after seeing 'Avatar' I understand. The forests of Pandora are so wrought with detail you find yourself believing in it. The fantastical imagery are objectively absurd, but when rushed into the moments of their revelation, you become swept up in them. Particularly stunning are the floating mountain ranges, a geographical feature that's pure fantasy and yet might make sense in a region of reduced gravity.
"Avatar's" storyline is secondary to its effects. You can tell where James Cameron's interests were not primarily concerned with a new story. The narrative arc of an outsider becoming an insider and then fighting against the outsiders has been done many times before and it's been done better too. I found the characters to be underdeveloped and hard to sympathize with while the themes were overly developed to the point of hyperbole; anti-imperialism and preserving nature, while noble themes, are so in your face throughout the film, there is only one way to interpret 'Avatar.'
Usually a paragraph like the one preceding this would merit a bad review from me, but the visual effects of 'Avatar' are so stunning I can't help but give it a positive review. If you want pure escapism, and I mean pure, 'Avatar' is delicious and wonderful and that 160 minutes flies by,
Rating:
On a scale of one to Casablanca, this film is a "Un Chien Andalou" (1929)
Rationalization:
The vision will stick with me far longer than the story. In my mind, the story is secondary to the real story which is the fact that human innovation could produce such astonishing dreamscapes so comprehensively. James Cameron has always been a pioneer in the realm of special effects and this time he outdoes himself. Midway through 'Avatar' I believed in the Na'vi so thoroughly they were like real actors, occupying actual space. After Jar-Jar Binks and Golem, I was convinced that no CGI generated characters could never supplement actual actors or puppetsbut James Cameron has now made me believe.