James Cameron's $200 million plus behemoth is finally released. After years in development an industry waits to see if it will usher in a new age of cinema. It's undoubtedly spectacular, and pushes the boundaries of effects to new highs, but Avatar is far from a satisfying experience.
The Story of Avatar
It's 2154, Earth have set up a colony on a moon light years away called Pandora to mine a rich mineral that could solve Earth's energy crises. The U.S. military have been called in to provide protection from the natives of Pandora, a twelve foot tall blue-skinned humanoid race known as the Na'vi. Due to Pandora's atmosphere being toxic to humans, and the need to communicate with the Na'vi, Avatars were created -- remotely controlled organic bodies made from Na'vi and Human DNA. These are operated by “drivers” who's consciousness is transferred to the body. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine confined to a wheelchair, is recruited to replace his dead brother. While spending time with the Na'vi Jake comes to respect their way of life and begins to doubt the actions of his own race.
A Technical Leap Forward
The pressure must have been enormous to pull off the visual trickery required to make Pandora and the Na-vi believable. If James Cameron and his team couldn't do that, Avatar would fail. Nothing else would matter if the world didn't convince. Thankfully they've done it. Avatar is breathtaking to behold. A cohesive living world that is as real on screen as any of the actors. Through incredible animation based upon actors motion capture, the Na'vi look totally real. From the tiniest of facial expressions to their overall weight as they move, the Na'vi work. Being able to see Worthington and Sigourney Weaver's (as Dr. Grace Augustine) likeness in their avatars is incredible, and the proof to the success of this is that when jumping back and forth between live action and avatar, the film never jars. How Avatar's effects will stand up in 10 or 50 years' time is anyone's guess, but at this moment, they are a landmark achievement.
Cameron's Characters and a Fantastic Cast
With Cameron's films always pushing technical boundaries it's easy to forgot his talent for creating great characters and drawing out wonderful performances. It's also worth remembering he wrote and directed Weaver in Aliens, a film for which she received an Academy Award nomination, an unprecedented achievement for a sci-fi action film.
While Avatar's characters don't quite match Cameron's best, there are still strong archetypical characters acted out well by a strong cast. Worthington proves himself to be a bona-fide leading man, giving a performance of enormous charisma and humanity. Acting like the angel and devil on his shoulder are Weaver and Stephen Lang (as Colonel Miles Quaritch). Weaver is fascinated by and admires the Na'vi while Lang sees them as an obstacle to be crushed. Zoe Saldana brings a lot of emotion and passion to the story as the tough Na'vi Neytiri, and she has real chemistry with Worthington, even through the mo-cap animation process. Cameron, as usual, has filled his cast with great female roles, although Michelle Rodriguez (as pilot Trudy Chacon) is underused.
It All Falls Apart
With so much to admire, Avatar's numerous flaws become all the more frustrating. The story's clunky, characters are underdeveloped, and Jake's voice-over, while appropriate in places, draws comparisons with the theatrical release of Bladerunner in its intrusiveness. The film runs at 161 minutes and at times this is really felt. The middle section focusing on the Na'vi runs far too long, and various sequences feel like time ran out to polish them before release. There's also a very bland rushed resolution -- strange for a director who usually excels in conclusions. The success of the technical accomplishment makes it clear that this was the priority over story, structure and character.
Vietnam, Native Americans & 9/11
Despite the frustration, the film's certainly an experience. It's hard not to be moved when Jake stands up as his avatar for the first time then runs outside to feel soil between his toes. Or the awe that's felt on seeing the landscape and species on Pandora. The film has an obvious eco message, but it slips into parody with the Na'vi too often coming across as a caricature of Native Americans. The message works visually so all the pontificating from the characters is unnecessary. Also touched upon are Vietnam, colonialism and 9/11. In one bravura sequence a Na'vi monument is destroyed by the military, strongly evoking the falling twin towers. It's a distressing sequence with the added twist that it's the Americans who are responsible. What an incredibly reflective moment in an American film.
The avatars are ripe for philosophical discussion, but don't expect the depth offered by The Matrix. Like so much of Avatar, the enormous potential is wasted. What could have been Cameron's magnum opus will likely be remembered for its effects rather than anything else. And that's a real shame.
Rhys Bendix-Lewis - Rhys attended Aberystwyth University, completing both a Film & Television Studies BA and Scriptwriting (Screen & Radio) MA. During this ...
