It’s been more than ten years since James Cameron directed the Academy Award-winning Titanic (1997), and the hype surrounding this monster of a film has been of leviathan proportions. Does it deserve the title of ‘epic’?
The year is 2054, and the human race is colonising the alien planet Pandora, so that they can mine for the imaginatively named mineral ‘unobtainum’ (presumably once they have it, it becomes obtainium). But the indigenous people of Pandora – blue-skinned Amazons, with a connection to the forest – are not willing to give up their homeland so easily. Earth sends in Avatars – human minds, linked to alien bodies – to convince them to leave. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, Terminator) is one such Avatar, thrust into an entirely new world, and out of his body. But as Jake learns more about the native people, he finds himself torn between two worlds, fighting for the forest – and his life.
The story is straightforward: Pocahontas on another planet, Dances With Wolves to the tune of a space opera, romanticism of the savages in space. Unfortunately the dichotomy between civilised/savage is slightly overwrought. The aliens are somewhat complex characters, but the army and corporate thugs are mindless, testosterone-powered machines. The human characters are ironically more two-dimensional than their animated counterparts.
The plot is predictable, the politics somewhat preachy, and the dialogue clichéd: but this is a remarkable film nonetheless. The formula is still interesting no matter how many times we’ve seen it, but it is the alien planet Pandora that makes Avatar so watchable. The lush and luminescent world is filled with detailed plants, and fascinating and frightening animals. The thick atmosphere of the planet means that mountains float suspended in the sky, and slow-moving reed-grasses are reminiscent of underwater scenery.
Avatar was made for 3D, so it would be remiss of me not to mention its effectiveness. Does it live up to the hype? The 3D effects are amazing. Most impressive are not exploding aircraft, or airborne missiles, but the more subtle scenes, where 3D is merely used to add depth to the scene. Watching Avatar, one feels like they are really standing in the room with the characters, or watching the lush forest stretch out before them.
Despite the predictability of plot, Avatar is an amazing technical achievement. It is worth seeing, if only so that one can see the future of filmmaking. It is an out of body, out of this world experience.
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver
- Melissa
nnnnnng i wanna see this so bad!
ReplyDeleteps nowhere boy was pretty ace. haha i've never heard such a loud, cinema-wide gasp as when mama lennon was hit by car. sounded like someone had a heart attack/gave birth very suddenly