"We have the technology. We can film it"
Okay, I know that was whack (note to self: No more "Six-Million Dollar Man" references). But, it did take like mad goo gobs of years to produce the technological monstrosity that is Avatar. The plot revolves around ex-marine Jake Sully (rising star Sam Worthington), a war-made cripple whose scientist twin brother dies, leaving open the ultimate job opportunity: to explore the vast, lush world of Pandora. Under the beautiful nature of Pandora lies a precious mineral with the fiction stock name of unobtainium. For this reason, space miners from Earth have come to harvest the mineral from the land.
Jake, among others, take over genetically altered avatar bodies to gain the trust of the indigenous population of blue humanoids, the Na'vi. He're where things get "Pocahontas-y", Jake meets the Na'vi's princess (the lovely Zoe Saldana) and falls in love. Lines are blurred and crossed in this epic space adventure that features gorgeous environments, fantastic creatures, and an old school villain reminiscent of the today's oil economy.
The special effects in this movie are just amazing. Cameron visually assaults you with the bright and colorful wildlife and agriculture of Pandora. The real kicker that packs Avatar's punch is the new motion capture technology that is used effectively in the film. The facial markers that help transfer the actor's real emotions onto the animated character is what really puts this film above the likes of Disney's recent motion capture venture A Christmas Carol.
The only downside was the recycled plot. But hey, even Hollywood has to go green at times. The whole movie did have a familiar vibe to it. The story's just been done, yet it works well beside fantastic performances by Sigourney Weaver and CCH Pounder (among others), uber effects, and a really nice theme by my favorite singer Leona Lewis. Another factor that benefited the film was its star Sam Worthington. I swear this guys gonna be the big thing in the 2010s. He's in like everything now and if he keeps giving us performances like this, I don't have a problem with it.
Avatar is proof that even though it's been 12 years since Titanic, Cameron hasn't lost his touch. Maybe if he wasn't such a b-word, we'd see more great films like this without the huge time gap. 4/5
"Thanator Chase"
"Thanator Chase"
