Avatar (2009)

So, here it is. I'm sure you have heard of a little film called Avatar by now. After twelve years, the 'King of the World' is back. Yeah that's right Mr. James Cameron's Avatar, fifteen years in the making, is finally upon us. Smashing his own box-office record by becoming the most popular film at the cinema ever, thus knocking Titanic down to number two, Avatar has already made, the I'm-sure-he is-already-loaded-director, even more money, thus perhaps justifying the reported $250 million it cost to produce. So what's it all about?

Avatar's main protagonist is Jake Scully (Sam Worthington). His twin brother, a former avatar operator has been killed, and as Jake is a near-perfect genetic match he has been brought to Pandora, the far away planet on which the film is set, to replace him, despite no longer having the function of his lower body. Humans are on Pandora for a reason, to undertake a mining operation to secure a rare yet valuable mineral called unobtanium. Through the creation of avatars, virtually identical replica's to the inhabitants of Pandora called Na'vi's, humans are able to get close to the Na'vi and increase the quality of their research of the planet. Avatars are operated via a mental link by matching a human to an Avatar body, thus rendering Scully's disability unimportant.

Scully's avatar eventually links up with Neytiri, whose massive Na'vi colony live in an area that the humans want to bulldoze. Scully's mission is to befriend Neytiri and convince her and her colony to relocate. At night, whilst Scully's avatar sleeps, the human Scully is brought around, back to headquarters and updated on the next part of the mission. However, Avatar could be called a film of self-awakening. Scully begins to enjoy life as an avatar and eventually swaps sides, deciding that he would quite like to live on Pandora permanently, much to the disgust of the humans.

Now one of the main discussion topics that Avatar has aroused is regarding it's visual achievements and sure, I'll allow them to be described as 'sharp' but visually stunning perhaps not. With such a big budget Cameron is obviously going to make the film look incredibly slick. Boasting the most expensive and technologically advanced special effects the film does look very good, and the use of 3D allows Cameron to fully display the expansive and intricate nature of the Pandorian forest. But films have been made at a snip of Avatar's budget and have been visually a lot more beautiful. Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain and Wong Kar Wai's 2046 spring to mind.

The most curious and perhaps even most enjoyable parts of the film came when Jake and Neytiri discussed the environmental aspects of Pandora's forest plant and wildlife. These scenes allowed Cameron to get full benefits out of the magical colours he employs and allowed the 3D side of the film to shine the most. I must give out the highest praise for these scenes. Unfortunately such moments take up far too little of the film's running time.

All the pre-Oscar talk suggested that Zoe Saldana could become the first motion-capture actress to ever be nominated in the Best Female category, for her performance as Neytiri. She missed out though, and I think that this was the right choice. This isn't because I disagree with motion-capture performances being considered in such categories but simply because I do not think that she stands out in the film, say above Sam Worthington's performance as Jake Sully, and I didn't hear of him potentially being up for Best Male. Nor does Santana give a performance as good as the only nomination in the Best Female category that I've seen, Carey Mulligan, in her role as the charming Jenny Miller, in the very good coming of age tale, An Education. Of all the performances in Avatar I was probably most impressed with Sigourney Weaver's. She stood out above the majority of average actors despite her small role.


Predictably, the last act of the film is devoted to high octane action or, as I like to call it, people dying and things blowing up. Fellow 2009 Best Picture nominee District 9 also sets itself up in this way, and this story arc is what I consider a major flaw in the film as it simply boils down to an arbitrary battle to decide a winner. I was hoping that Avatar did not follow in District's shoes. In a sense it does, however, the final action scenes are amongst the most impressive scenes of this type that I have ever seen. Not only are they put together incredibly well, but Cameron has, by the time these scenes come about, established his characters and the unfolding situation in such a way, that, for once in an action film these final few scenes really feel like they mean something to all involved. This wasn't just about coming to an arbitrary conclusion, this really was deciding the fate of Pandora. And for achieving this I almost begrudgingly have to give Avatar credit.

Avatar is not revolutionary cinema, primarily because this is not revolutionary storytelling and for me that is such a main part of being original and distinctive, which this is not. It is riddled with cliches, from a predictable love story, to stereotypical, one-dimensional characters, and even just a general, all too familiar, we have seen it a million times before structure. It's a shame really because Cameron is a big name in cinema, he loves films, so with such special effects at his disposal why not go just that one little step further and not only prove that you can make state-of-the-art special effects films but that you can also revolutionise storytelling, then you can make us all happy? Instead Cameron seems happy just to provide us with some sort of prototype of what is to come.

But what Avatar is, is incredibly good popcorn cinema. It's a good ride, and at around 160 minutes it does fly by. I do worry at how well Avatar will transfer from the big-screen to home viewings on DVD. I fear that it's flaws may become more apparent and the magic that is created through the use of 3D glasses and a big cinema screen will evaporate. For me this is a massive problem in classing a film as good. Great films are universal. They can be viewed on the big screen, on a portable DVD player or on just your standard living room television. If Avatar is only worthwhile on the cinema screen, then in a few weeks time when it's cinema contract runs out will it disappear from our lives altogether?

Is this the best film of 2009? No, the answer to that question is Moon. Is this the best film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Again, I'd have to say no. But what it does prove is that hype is everything, and I'm sure James Cameron isn't complaining.


Rating: 6.5/10