James Cameron has done it again.

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2009)

Avatar, set in the far future, is the story of wounded ex-marine Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington). Sully is handicapped and cannot walk anymore, but is offered a deal that would change his life forever. Space travel is common and a mining mission is employed on an alien planet known as Pandora. The planet is populated by a race of indigenous and environmentalist extraterrestrials known as the Na'vi. Their main village rests upon the richest deposit of the substance that the humans are trying to mine, but the population simply refuses to re-locate. Colonel Quaritch (played by Stephen Lang) introduces Sully to an operation in which he will control an external body called an Avatar, which is his DNA mixed with the DNA of a Na'vi. Sully's Avatar is transported to Pandora in an effort for him to befriend the Na'vi, gain their trust, and eventually find a desire that could get the aliens to relocate. While learning the Na'vi culture and language, he bonds and falls in love with Neytiri, the daughter of the Na'vi king and queen. Sully switches sides and eventually joins the aliens in a fight to save the stunning beauty of Pandora.
One word may have popped into your mind after you read my plot summary: Pocahontas. Yes, Avatar does draw many parallels to the Pocahontas legend, and simultaneously embeds strong environmentalist messages into the story as well. The story was not the most original ever created, and it is not meant to be. The simplistic story adds to the epic tone of the film that slowly creeps its way in as the climax builds up to its finale. It is true that the plot is something we have all heard about, but never has it been presented in this manner. By the end of the film, the satisfaction one garners after the grand finale exceeds that of every Lord of the Rings film. This is classic storytelling, in James Cameron's simple yet powerful directing style. Although Avatar may seem like the average action flick of today, many of Cameron's old-time trademarks are clearly evident. There are plenty of rolling feet shots, notorious one-liners from villainous characters (like those found in Aliens, True Lies, and Terminator 2) and the action flows very nicely in true Cameron style. The writing was also very nostalgic. Cameron does not rely on complex, mind-wrenching dialogue to tell his story. The romance was well written, and character development is clearly evident as Jake Sully undergoes his transitional phase on Pandora. Some people criticize this Avatar's dialogue for coming out as a bit clichéd and "corny." I honestly would not have enjoyed the film if the dialogue tried to hard to be revolutionary. An epic adventure like this just needs powerful acting behind the lines to work, and in that area, Avatar delivers. Sam Worthington is great and this film is yet another great example of how the Australian actor is quickly becoming one of the best and prolific actors of this generation. Zoe Saldana brought the bold, strong, and fearless character of Neytiri to life. She served as a great love interest character and her Na'vi background helped enhance how valuable of a character she is. Sigourney Weaver's performance as Grace Augustine, a botanist who specializes on Pandoran plant life, is also great as one can expect from her. The villainous Colonel Quaritch was also a fantastic character thanks to Stephen Lang's absolutely powerful performances. Cameron implemented a wonderful and fearless villain into the film and every character (including the wildlife of Pandora) stood out on it's own.
I cannot find words to describe the visual impact of this film. Breathtaking, phenomenal, and amazing are all understatements. The amount of painstaking effort put into realizing the world of Pandora really paid off. The entire alien planet, including the Na'vi characters, is computer-generated, yet many shots would make the viewer wonder where they shot the film on location. New and extensive performance capture techniques were created for this film. Cameron improved upon previous motion capture methods that were used for characters such as Gollum (The Lord of the Rings) and Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean) in order to make his computer-generated characters more life-like. The Na'vis convey real emotions down to the very small muscles on their faces. The attention to detail was so carefully handled that you do not worry about things being over-the-top. You simply believe that the setting is there and the characters are undergoing a huge conflict within it. The design involved in the film was astounding and a lot of caring dedication was put into the character designs. A full phonetic language was designed from the ground up for the Na'vi civilization, in addition to a full background lore and mythology for the population. The animals look like ordinary animals at first glance, but when you see them up close with repeated viewings, you realize how alien they are. The predatory creatures that dwell in the forests of Pandora look absolutely menacing, and the dragon-like Ikrans serve a great purpose in the entire movie. James Cameron, along with other top-notch artists like Neville Page (of Cloverfield and Star Trek fame) and others from WETA Digital created a new world full of wildlife, plants, geographical locations, and a humanoid population. Pandora is simply a living and breathing world that is truly a sight to see in which the 3D effect greatly enhances.
Avatar is a film experience that will be remembered for years to come. James Cameron has succeeded once again in creating a wonderfully entertaining film with the perfect balance between love, action, and mild comedy. In addition to this, the director has taken another step in upgrading the way we watch films in the future.