2009 Review #69: Avatar

Avatar

Rated PG-13

(intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking)

2 hours 40 minutes

Storyline:

A paraplegic marine dispatched to the planet Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

Cast:

Sam Worthington

Zoe Saldana

Sigourney Weaver

Stephen Lang

Critics Grade:

B+

My Grade:

A-

James Cameron is back! Avatar is his first film since his Oscar winning classic film, "Titanic". He also brought us such action packed movies as "Aliens", "Terminator", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "True Lies". Action is what he does best, and it's very rare that Cameron fails to entertain an audience. He is typically a filmaker that knows how to make a film that will appeal to a wide variety of people and won't leave many people disappointed. Avatar is no exception. Avatar might very well be Cameron's masterpiece right next to Titanic. Do I think it is Best Picture WINNER quality? No...but I certainly think it deserves a nomination.

Avatar lacks in one major category, and that is solid storytelling. Cameron wrote the screenplay to this film a very long time ago, and I don't know if he really brushed off the dust and re-wrote this film, because it doesn't appear to have been touched. I think Cameron could have benefited from hiring an outside screenwriter for this film, but honestly the story wasn't awful. I just thought the story was rather uninspiring and lacked any emotional depth or connection. I totally saw the real world messages throughout the film. The message to support going green. The anti-war messages. The message that basically says "hey...leave things the way they are". That's all great, but it didn't come off as meaningful or powerful as it could have. The characters were also written a bit dry and came off as overly cliched most of the film. The story goes exactly where you think it's going. You know exactly who's going to die and who's going to live. It was not a bad story, it did have some good elements to it, it just was a tad weak.

BUT...we do not go see a movie like Avatar for remarkable storytelling. We go to see this movie because of the visuals. Because of the non stop action. This movie has all of that and then some. James Cameron has delivered some of the most breath taking and stunning filmaking I think I may have ever seen. Especially in the second half of the film. The second half is essentially non stop fun and excitement. Pure action that is brilliantly relentless and I loved every minute of it. To start, Cameron created this amazing visual world like I've never seen before. 3D and motion capture technology used to the absolute max. This film was made for over $230 million, and you can see every penny on screen. These creatures look real, you can see pain in their little animated eyes. It was incredible. The scenes of them flying around on their dinosaur bird like creatures were something to marvel at.

I can't go on enough how phenomenal this movie looks. And it works so very well with the action. It works well with the characters. It works well with the story. This whole movie blends together so well. The second half of this film is basically a giant battle sequence that is some of the best action I've seen in a film. It's definitely some of the most exciting and tense. It was remarkably captured on camera and brilliantly put on the large screen for our enjoyment. Cameron deserves a best director nomination for breaking down walls in the filmaking world. This film is revolutionary in the cinematic sense. It amazes you, it puts you in awe. This is easily one of the very best films of 2009. Not THE best, just one of the best. Simply because it immerses you in a world that we've never really seen before. The action flows so beautifully and the whole films keeps you in wonder and amazement. At least it did for me.

Avatar may have lacked in the story department. It may not have had the greatest performances of the year. But this is still a hell of a great movie based on the fact that the filmaking by James Cameron is one of a kind. You haven't really seen this kind of film before. Please go out and see it, I really don't think you will be disappointed. It's damn good fun, it's damn exciting and it's just a hell of a film to stare at for almost three hours. Really solid film!