AVATAR

What is Avatar? A movie with more hype than most movies combined this year, Avatar had more going for it than any movie this year prior to release. Was it all worth it? Did Avatar knock the socks off of this film reviewer?


The seeds of Avatar were planed years ago, near fifteen years to be exact. The brain child behind this monster is James Cameron. Cameron originally had an 80 page script back in 1994 that was set to be filmed soon after Titanic was finished. Cameron who is known for his “epic” movies sited the lack of technology as a main factor to as why Avatar took so long as it did. It was not until 2008 when Cameron saw the leaps in CGI, such as King Kong and Gollum that he felt confidant that the world of Pandora would turn out right.


Movies on such a grand scale, like Avatar, can leave the important things behind. Things like acting, story, cinematography, and direction can be overlooked, if not totally thrown to the waste side. While the story of Avatar is fairly simple and has been done many times before, it is still solid in the delivery with a few twists added in for flavor. The story is one of the few down sides of this film. It is extremely easy to follow. So much so that I know of several 10 year olds that understood what was going on throughout Avatar.


With only a handful of actors in the film physically, the burden of believability does weigh more on actors. Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully who is the main protagonist is the film, and delivers as well as anyone could want. Sigourney Weaver brings experience and a solid anchor to the cast as Dr. Grace Augustine as the head of the Avatar program. Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore also deliver rock solid roles in the film.


I am going to take a second to talk about Zoë Saldaña who plays Neytiri. While she is only in the movie by the way of performance capture, and is entirely computer generated, she gives one of the best performances I have seen all year. She captures the soul of the Na’vi with what seems like ease. If she is not at least nominated for an Academy Award then something is seriously amiss.


So that leaves cinematography left that could hold Avatar back. The camera work is sweepingly epic in the grandest sense. With a world solely from the mind of Cameron, he knows exactly what he wants and the camera delivers. From landscape shots to intense action scenes the camera seems to be everywhere you want to be. At times you feel fully emerged in the world, and James Cameron’s direction is fully to thank.


After hearing comic con attendee’s talk about how amazing and new the CGI was, I was skeptical. After seeing the trailers I was still skeptical. After seeing the film I can saw that I was impressed. It is the next step in Computer graphics. Think back to when you saw Jurassic Park for the first time. It is that big of a step. Now is it some amazing new CGI, sadly no. It is the best CGI I have ever seen, but still just CGI.


Is Avatar worth the estimated five hundred million that it took to make? Is it even worth the twelve bucks I paid to see it? YES YES AND YES. This film is mind blowing. The first hour or so I did have my doubts about it, with the introduction and set up, yet after that I rarely could close my jaw. During the last battle I found myself saying “wow” more than I ever thought I could. This is the epic that film needs at this moment. This is the film that film fans need at this time. This is a must see in theaters. Home DVD will do injustice to Avatar, which does sadden me. With two sequels still in the mind of James Cameron would I, given the chance, give him the green light to spend five hundred more million to spend? YES! Go see this movie now. It is truly one of the best films of the year.