A powerful slice of wow

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2010)

*** This review may contain spoilers *** I went into the theatre unsure of what to expect, having read a mix of rave reviews and critical maulings. I walked out nothing short of blown away. As a big budget and big effects blockbuster, Avatar delivers and then some. Great action, spectacular effects and stunning visuals of scenery, communities and machines. I also loved the many subtle touches afforded by the 3D rendering that lent an added sense of realism to the imaginary jungle on Pandora.
As a story, Avatar excels. Yes, it has the formulaic qualities expected of an action-fuelled Blockbuster ... extraordinary hero, super amazing daring stunts, love story, conflict, a point of self-awareness in which defining decisions must be made, and that feel-good sense of "YES!!" as the story lines resolve themselves and the baddies get their just deserts. Yes, these Hollywoody elements are improbable. But it's a fantasy sci fi, and fantasy is improbable by definition. However, as expected of James Cameron, there is so much more for those who wish to engage below the surface as he revisits his theme of man's preoccupation with technology.
In the Terminator movies, Cameron ably provided us with a retelling of the old Hebrew Golem tale. Avatar poignantly examines the west's longstanding habit of treating technologically-driven military superiority as superior cultural worth. Here, Cameron references the west's realistic historical tendency to use this ideological devaluing of cultures it labels "primitive" as an excuse to behave like savages towards them. However, this movie is not a commentary on the past, but of America's recent continuation of such spiritually devoid behaviour. In doing so, he draws an unavoidable parallel ... if the invasion and destruction of cultures for profit was arrogant and evil in the past, as most of us agree these were, then how can exactly the same kind of ideologically-driven, pre-emptive invasion of countries to gain control of their valuable natural resources be any less so today? Whether one agrees with Cameron's condemnation of neo-conservative policies or not, one function of art is to force us to ask questions about our state of humanity. And in this sense, Avatar functions very well as a work of narrative art.
I feel compelled to comment on some of the criticisms I have read. They seem to wholly overlook this underlying message of the story, as though these critics somehow never looked past the 3D effects. As a PhD student, I've observed often enough that those who assume themselves to be the smartest person in the room tend not to be, and the smartest people in the room tend to assume that everyone is just as intelligent as they are. As a movie buff, I'm all to aware of those that dismiss any blockbuster as brainless based on their own self-ascribed intellectual superiority. The criticisms I've read adhere to these ideas. The critics, few though they thankfully seem to be, seem to be so busy patting themselves on the back over how clever they are that they've failed to be at all intelligent.
Quite simply, this is a superb movie, visually and contextually. If you love blockbusters, go see this movie. If you love intelligent movies, give this one a chance and judge it by your own standards and movie-going tastes.