It’s been 12 years since James Cameron set box office records and literally transformed filmmaking as we know today with Titanic. It’s interesting to note every movie geek, critic and average joe/jane knows the name James Cameron despite only having a handful of films out. Though he took a long break from directing, he had some other side projects producing and getting in touch with mother nature to keep him busy. Oh and he’s also been working on a movie that he claims will change the way we watch movies…forever. Pretty bold statement there Jim. Whenever a movie is hyped so much, it’s rare you walk away dumbfounded and speechless after viewing it. Does Avatar live up to the bold claims of Mr. Cameron? Hell YES!!!
So let’s get the story (or lack thereof) out of the way. The story is about Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine who lost his legs during battle, awakened from cryogenic sleep to replace his deceased twin brother who was involved in a highly prioritized scientific expedition on planet Pandora. Pandora is home to the Na’vi people, a blue skinned 20 ft. creature that resembles the characteristics of a Native American tribe. Pandora’s natural resources are worth billions to humans and would love to get their hands on all that cheddar. Unfortunately, the tribe of the Omaticaya are colonized right over a huge lump of it which poses a mining problem to the humans. Using advanced technology, the humans created Avatars, or an embodiment of a life form, in this case a Na’vi which was created by human and Na’vi DNA.
Humans will assume these Avatars through mind control and mingle with the Na’vi, hoping to gain their approval and cooperation. Jake Sully volunteers for the mission to communicate with the Na’vi, gain their trust and convince them to move elsewhere. Sounds familiar so far doesn’t it. I won’t get into it too much but that’s basically the plotline of the film. In spite of that, there are many underlying political themes throughout the film. The basic plot of humans wanting a natural resource by any means reminds me of the Bush Administration seeking oil in Iraq. There is also one scene where the man in charge says they will “fight terror with terror”…scary ain’t it. But this isn’t about politics so I will get to the real reason why you should watch Avatar 3D.
Plotline aside, it is a visual feast! I’ve seen some movies integrate 3D into their film but not like this. I’ll be honest, the first 10-15 minutes was a little awkward for me. I sat there thinking, this isn’t gonna work. But slowly, you kind of forget what you’re seeing. If I can put it into words, imagine yourself there but only 5-10 feet away from what’s going on. In fact James Cameron said it best, it’s like looking at another world through a window, you can practically touch it if the pane of glass wasn’t there. James Cameron manages to pull you in this fictional world that feels so real without you even knowing it. Sooner or later, an hour has passed and you’re just sucked in to Pandora forgetting the lame plotline and knowing subconsciously how it will end. The experience of watching this film just pulls you into the story and makes you feel what the characters are feeling like you’re really there. Everything just works beautifully. James Cameron once again set the tone for revolutionary filmmaking. We were astonished when he sank the Titanic, and now words can’t describe what James Cameron has done once again.
In conclusion, there is much to be desired in terms of plotline but I commend Mr. Cameron for taking a simple formula that everyone can follow and just making it his own. I mean we can laugh now at how silly we were for watching Titanic more than once in the theaters but you gotta admit, at the time it was real good. The same applies, we may have seen this story before but I have never experienced it quite like this. Though the runtime was a bit long (about 160 mins) it didn’t affect me at all and I never felt it dragged. All in all, if this is how movies are to be made, then we have a lot to look forward to!