A living, breathing testimony to why we love cinema.

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2010)

Avatar gets a 10 because of its visuals and some of the natural soul satisfying themes therein. The rest of the film does not matter; I'll explain why.
The plot is as standard and as conventional as they come. The whole film is a collective of clichés and things we have all seen before on screen. A Marine without the use of his legs becomes part of a program on Pandora. Selected individuals become the 'avatars' that have been specifically engineered for them and go out into the alien world of Pandora. The objective: to study the natives, indigenous 'beasts,' life forms and layout of terrain in the interests of military tactical advantage. The Marine is given the incentive of government-approved working legs if he is successful in completing the objective. Marine, assisted by ever so cheesy, clichéd, cartoonish two-dimensional characters enters world, meets girl, meets tribe, learns ways, gets accepted, falls in love, and ultimately decides in all predictability that Pandora is more valuable to him than the 'real' world. That's about ten or so films that we can all list covered so far. And so 'jarhead' ultimately becomes protagonist, protector and defender when the 'good' guys who are fighting the 'savages' decide it's time to eradicate and show them just who is boss. Don't you love the mentality :)
So, back to the reason of sitting in the theater with 3-D glasses. It takes a little while, but the reason for every Effects house, department, and agency working on a 400-million dollar film becomes oh so very apparent. So I am a gamer, very much accustomed to playing pretty games on high-end tech. I am also a film geek, details, details, details. So, you will understand that when the lights go down a little and I'm looking at 'other worldly' vegetation full of sap or rain water, and I sit there shaking my head because my brain can't seem to compute that specially created/generated foliage defies that very concept. When the lights go down on Pandora I might as well be looking out of my own window. Indeed, I was also dubious when I heard a similar statement. Avatar, when you get past - but can't really get past - because you are looking at animation that looks so real that you can instantly (pretty much) tell who the actor is behind the 'mask' - the phenomenal visuals. You are allowed to smile, and perhaps to have your eyes well up a little, with Jake's first encounter as a 'Dragon' rider. Here perhaps is a nod to Anne McCaffrey's 'Pern.' The rider chooses the Dragon and the Dragon the rider. When the bond is made, they become one.
I want to get back to the characters again. Remember when I said details, details, details: The skin, the eyes, the flakes of dust that land on the skin after an explosion, the ears that move and stretch. the physical motions and motor skills. What is the expression I am looking for.. 'more human than human'. OK, time to close. The weakest link, in my opinion, and I truly hate to say this out of my respect for one of the mothers of sci-fi, is Sigourney Weaver's character. Rather than playing a secure, natural maternal scientist we have a re-hashed Ripley after 23 years, only it only serves to weaken the experience. As soon as Sigourney opens her mouth, I want her to close it. It's not big, it's not clever; and I don't care if it's a military 'thing' in a PG-13 film. The mild swearing is out of place. Some of the audience cheered and clapped when Michelle (signature frown and growl) Rodriguez says: "You're not the only one with a gun, bitch!" Why do women need to grow balls in these flicks.. You don't need to compete with the alpha male who is doing a fine job of cheapening the human race. It sounds great coming from Sigourney Weaver, in full control of a robot walker facing off against mother Alien, but it's not 'Aliens', it's Rodriguez with a pair who should stay in films that go straight to video shelf. I perceive that there is a reason behind the far too obviously staged overacting. It contrasts with the wonderful soothing, soul enriching acting from the Naa'ri. It also serves to exploit the human race for what they are: Takers, antagonists, butchers, and barbarians. Avatar is the current apotheosis of the reason we enjoy cinema. Anyone who is anyone can enjoy it, though preferably not younger children. Kids and adults alike who don't understand (or care about) the plot can get lost in the amazing world of Pandora.
Highly recommended, not something that should be missed on the biggest, most technically capable theater you can find. Can't be described, needs to be seen to be believed.