Thunderingly good entertainment

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2009)

After I saw Terminator 2 at the cinema when it first came out, I had to recover for a day or two. When I started getting my thoughts in order, I realised two things: one, the film had state-of-the-art special effects running all the way through it and, two, those effects were always in service of the story, and never the other way round.
Some consideration of Cameron's filmography makes it clear that, while he is a director who is keen to push the envelope - The Abyss and Titanic also come to mind as movies where effects are pushed into new areas (and I include physical effects as well as photographic and CGI), there is always a strong human heart beating in the film, and you never find yourself thinking that here is a filmmaker who has discovered the bundle of tricks which is CGI, now what can I hang them on? (koff koff Roland Emmerich anyone?) So I watched Avatar on two levels - what it looked like, and what it felt like. As it happens, that's not a bad basis on which to review it, notwithstanding that the essence of successful film-making is that the two should be inextricably tied together.
So what does it look like? I'm a sucker for eye candy, and the answer has to be "Absolutely stunning." Breaking the visuals down into sections: The human locations and hardware are very reminiscent of those in Aliens, and the powered exoskeletons (viz Ripley's fight with the Alien queen in Aliens) make a reappearance, big time; The Pandora vistas are both sufficiently earth-like to enable you to identify, and sufficiently other-worldly to place you on another planet; The Pandora flora and fauna are spectacular, and brilliantly well thought out. I particularly loved an element which hasn't been shown in the trailers, involving the plaits which the Na'vi wear.
Do you believe in what is shown to you? Well, for the first few moments you marvel at the eye candy, and then, yes, you accept what you're seeing. In particular, the Na'vi are real people within a few minutes of meeting them. I was disconcerted to find myself quite fancying an 8 foot tall skinny blue woman with cat's eyes.
The 3D is also amazingly effective in immersing you in both the gritty human locations and also the alien world of Pandora - do try to see it in 3D if you can.
But what of the story? Let's be honest, you're likely to have encountered this tale before. Technology-heavy invaders are determined to acquire a natural resource: unfortunately, this resource lies under a particularly sacred site belonging to an indigenous tribe (think Amazonian rain forest, think buffalo herds), so someone is sent to infiltrate but ends up seeing the beauty of the life pursued by the underdogs, and changes allegiance. Factor in a romance between the infiltrator and the chieftain's daughter who is delegated to train him, and you have a formula story which is likely to be quite familiar.
But it's unfair to level that as a criticism. The reason it's a familiar story is that it's a good story. Filled with tension and audience sympathy for the underdog, it works as well here as it has worked in previous incarnations, and the science fiction trimmings add complications and additional story elements. You do genuinely care for the plight of the Na'vi, and you want the romance between Marine Jake Sully and his Na'vi princess to turn out well.
I must say that Cameron's films generally - and Avatar is no exception - are not films which are going to rank as great cinematic statements. What they are, without exception, is fantastic big screen entertainment - they engage, transport, and carry you along. They are rattling good yarns, delivered by a master storyteller. And, again, Avatar is no exception.
Cameron said that he wanted to make a film where you wouldn't be able to tell where real life ended and CGI began - he has achieved that. And he also said that he was aiming to create CGI faces which the audience could accept as real faces, and which didn't have the deadness behind the eyes which we have seen as recently as Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol. I think he has achieved that, too. If nothing else, this is another of Cameron's films which will stand as a milestone of technical achievement, but it is also a hugely entertaining movie, and one where the story comes first.