Stunning and imaginative visually, but a stereotypical story full of old clichés

Rating: 8/10 (23 September 2010)

Recap: Mankind has gone for the stars and found a treasure of the rare material Unobtanium in the planet Pandora. Covered by a beautiful but deceptively dangerous jungle a big part of the human colony is security forces, and that is how disabled veteran marine Jake Sully ends up there. Going in place of his dead brother he operates an Avatar to reach out to the humanoid native species, the Na'vi. The Na'vi is in extreme touch with nature, depends and protects it at any cost, and it is soon clear that their interest comes in clear conflict with the humans' greedy mining intentions. And of course, Jake ends up in the middle of this, feeling more and more sympathy for the awe inspiring nature, and finding love with the Na'vi.
Comments: Despite not seeing this in 3D, but only on a Bluray, this still is stunningly beautiful picture with marvelous sceneries, landscapes and vistas, not to mention wonderful details. It is instantly obvious that this is a movie heavy in the visual experience. And despite coming with heavy praise, it doesn't disappoint even though some scenes are clearly solely there to impress 3D-watchers. Still, many scenes are just breathtaking. It is a marvel of light and colour in the hands of a playful, imaginative mind (or more probably, minds). Most impressive, and most entertaining.
But the danger with movies becoming so heavily focused on the visual and effects part is that the story might be somewhat forgotten, or at least having to take the back seat. Avatar, along with 2012 for example, suffers from this. In Avatar's case a very big part of the framework of the story is almost copy-pasted from an old western movie, complete with stereotypes of the evil white ranchers and the primitive but in touch with nature natives. It annoyed me that a movie with such a big budget, and made with such an enormous effort couldn't be more original than that. However, a cliché is often a cliché for a reason, and in this case it is because it provides a simple story with a clear conflict to exploit with stunning effects.
Sam Worthington has quickly established himself as a lead man in action movies. And with good support from Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Roudrigez, Stephen Lang and Joel Moore, among many others, there is absolutely nothing to complain about the cast, or their performances.
In all, Avatar was a refreshingly good movie. Long as it is, something is always happening or there is something breathtaking to watch, it is entertaining every minute, even if predictable. It is a real treat, and I'm thankful that once in a while someone sets their mind's to make an epic film like Avatar (and note that is almost always a sci-fi). Highly recommended, and would have been a full-pointer if there would have been just a little more effort on a more original script.
8/10