After all the hype here it is – but will Avatar change filmmaking forever? No. Is it a new way of telling a story? Nope. Is it a visually stunning fairground ride that takes you on a massive journey? You betcha.
There are two elements to the much-discussed visuals, the motion capture and the 3D, but it’s really only the former that makes this such an eye-popping experience. The 3D adds little, apart from a chase sequence which ends with our hero plunging off a waterfall. The motion capture though is something else. When the humans turn into the alien world natives, the Na’vi, they simply ARE those people, with the same facial expressions and body language, but with blue skin and tails.
Putting aside all the visual stuff for a second, the plot reveals itself to be pretty standard, eco-message stuff with an excuse for a massive battle sequence at the end. Sam Worthington plays handicapped marine jarhead Jake Sully, who is conscripted to replace his dead twin brother and work out on the distant Pandora planet. On that world a consortium has discovered a mineral which will solve earth’s energy crisis, but it is buried under a forest where the Na’vi people live, an ancient tribe with strong links to the natural earth. Sully, Grace (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm (Joel Moore) are put into pods and transformed into hybrids of the Na’vi and humans, aka Avatars, so they can research the effect the mining will have on the planet (humans can’t survive on the planet without breathing equipment, but the hybrids can).
It’s no great surprise when they discover that destroying the forest’s highly delicate eco-system will have catastrophic effects, which they duly report back to sleazy corporate head Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) and meat-headed military head Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). The evil duo order the destruction of the forest anyway, but the Avatars have ‘gone native’, including Sully, who has not only fallen in love with the flora and fauna but with native girl Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). The scene is set for a final massive battle.
It’s pretty cheesy plotting, and some of Cameron’s writing is laughably simple – Colonel Quaritch has some spectacularly dumb lines – but the visuals are bright and bouncy enough to divert that part of your brain – just. An early sequence, where Sully and Neytiri explore the forest together at night, contains some truly amazing images, with fluorescent flowers waving in the breeze and seed pods hovering in the air. The native people look entirely real, with the motion capture really paying off, especially when Sully falls for Neytiri. Despite the fact she has ears like Spock, blue skin and a nose like a cat – she’s still pretty sexy.
Pacing wise it’s a long, slow set-up for the big battle sequence at the end. Sully has to get to know and trust the native people. That’s fine, but do we have to be introduced to every single creature in the jungle one by one, just so it all makes sense when they all get together to fight the evil corporation? There’s a particularly slow section in which Sully learns how to ride a horse-like creature, which he never does again in the film. Some cutting in the first 90 minutes would have led to a much pacier film.
Acting wise it’s the baddies who steal the show, with Stephen Lang’s gloriously stupid Colonel a cartoon villain, a man so hard he has not one scar across his head, but three. Ribisi’s perfectly slimy corporate head is a great creation – with little to work with in terms of the script – although Cameron fans will spot the similarity with Paul Reiser’s character from Aliens. They even share the same wardrobe. Talking of Aliens, Sigourney Weaver is also on top form as the tough but brilliant scientist investigating the planet’s delicate eco-system – and she hasn’t aged a day.
It’s been a long time since Cameron’s last film, Titanic, and this is clearly a labour of love on many levels. He can never be accused of lacking ambition or scope, and that’s to be admired, as is his insistence on pushing the technological boundaries of filmmaking. What he can be accused of is some average script-writing and predictable plotting. Avatar is a huge film in scope, amazing to look at, brilliantly performed and achieved. It’s also overlong, indulgent and at times plain daft. The final battle sequence never quite had the Star Wars effect I was waiting and hoping for. But Cameron is to be praised for his ambition – he’s not quite king of the world, but he certainly thinks he is, and that’s no bad thing.
Overall Verdict: Visually stunning, epic sci-fi tale that never quite meets its own ambition.
Reviewer: Mike Martin
