By now everyone is familiar with the concept of Avatar. We’ve been bombarded with trailers, images, internet banners, product placements, and hype that has meant this film is a guaranteed success commercially. Yet nothing can guarantee a success in terms of it being a film worth watching, so let me be amongst the huge number of the general cinema going audience to say that it really, really is. Avatar just works, and every inch of it shows the dedication and innovation that one Mr. Cameron has put into the making of it. It may be a review cliche to say this by now, but it’s entirely true to say that this is unlike anything you have ever seen before.
Pandora is stunning, a mass of life and colour that seeps from the screen into your consciousness. You become part of the landscape, following the Na’vi through a terrain thick with undergrowth and bizarre animals. When Sully is exploring the planet, particularly at night, it is difficult not to be filled with a sense of wonder at the majesty and intimacy of this world. It is at once grandiose and personal, epic yet immersive. But what is most astounding is how real it feels. It’s almost as if you can reach out and touch the strange, glowing flora, and taste the clear water of the rivers. It shows films such as 300 up to be the overly stylised computer gunk that it was. This is entirely crafted on a computer, yet you barely notice it at all.
And the Na’vi, the indiginous population of Pandora, are just as alive and beautiful as the world they inhabit. This is once again thanks to remarkable effects, yet also to some of the finest performances of the year. A lot will no doubt be said of Worthington, but while he is strong enough to inhabit the role, he is the least charismatic and believable of the lot. Zoe Saldana is simply unforgettable as the princess Neytiri. She completely inhabits the role, so that she transcends from being merely a blue pocahontas to something entirely different. You never once think that she is just a strangely tall, coloured human with a tail. This is true for all of the glistening natives, and it is indeed some acheivement that you can see individual features and characteristics in each one out of the hundreds of them. Oh brave new world that has such people in it.
And whilst a fair portion of the time is spent simply enjoying this world, with a powerful, if predictable, love story as it’s beating heart, we are also treated to the best action sequences of the year. The final battle for Pandora is a no-holds-barred, exhilarating battle that, put simply, puts Ewoks and Emmerich to shame. This is destruction with added elan. You care for the people, and the places. It’s exhilarating, breathless and often heart-stopping. The fact that it was all staged in a big warehouse makes it even more impressive. Mind-blowing, in fact. It sets the standard for sci-fi action in the future, and is not something you will want to miss.
Yet for every Cameron fan that will fall in love with this film, there is undoubtedly a cynic out there who will mock it mercilessly. Avatar frequently features the type of dialogue that will either make you either wince or laugh, and some of the hokum spirituality is bound to be ripped to shreds by those that hated the film before they’d even seen it. How much you enjoy this film may well depend on how well you can swallow a bunch of 9ft blue guys swaying in unison round a mystical tree. I personally see it as just adding another layer to the entirely believable mythology and history of the Na’vi. You may well see it as a little bit, well, stupid. Not only that, but Cameron maintains his reputation for horrifically cringey sex scenes. No, James, no one wants to see that.
And all this talk of it being a revolutionary film that will change cinema… well I hope not. Avatar works as an unforgettable cinematic experience, and one that everyone should try out at least once. But it won’t work in the comfort of your own home, as this is an event that is perfect for the big screen. Plus, having recently seen small gems such as A Serious Man and Where the Wild Things Are, this is the type of film that should be confined to big tentpole events, not the cinematic standard.
So in essence this is a film that is the new Titanic. It’s going to divide in a way that only Cameron can – some will fall in love, others may be tempted to vomit. Yet I am most definitely, without a doubt, in the former camp. Avatar is astonishing, and will take you to another world in a way that no other film can. In the rather blunt words of Jake Sully, “This is great.”
This is why Cameron’s film DID change cinema, it changed the way that human acting and direction occurs. It could be said that it made the wide physical action of stage Opera meet up with the powers of the cinematic close-up, in a virtual space: http://kvond.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/two-vectors-of-avatars-cinematic-achievement-affect-and-space-interface/ .
And yes, the plot and dialogue templates were multiple and even trite, but perhaps trite like dialogue in a fairytale is trite.