Special effects have been a part of movie making for decades. When a new effect is invented, it sometimes takes a few years for a breakthrough film to completely legitimize its use. Star Wars did it for scale models in 1977, The Matrix became the gold standard for "bullet time," in 1999, and in 2009 Avatar has finally set the benchmark for CGI.
James Cameron has once again taken on every naysayer, every doubter and critic, all the studio heads, and proven them all wrong for a monumental second time. Back in 1997, Cameron was mutilated in the press for going over the $100 million mark on the budget of Titanic. The studios were calling for his head, entertainment gurus were marking the death of his career and audiences were getting ready for another Waterworld. Cameron even gave back his entire fee for directing Titanic before the release because he was under so much pressure to make it work. Well, over a billion dollars and a Best-Picture Academy Award later, Cameron was “king of the world.” You would think the pessimists had learned their lesson.
Flash forward to 2009 and here we go again, although this time around, Cameron would not be fazed in the slightest by all the negativity. Not only was Avatar going over budget, but it was getting into the hundreds of millions over budget. And to add some more kindling to the fire, the first peaks of the so-called groundbreaking special effects were very underwhelming. Well, another billion dollars and talks of more Oscar nominations later, Cameron is not just king of this world, but also the Torok Makto of Pandora.
There is no denying that Avatar has finally given that last criterion of legitimacy to CGI effects. Not given its due in trailers or television commercials, the incredible special effects in Avatar really do need to be experienced first hand. Cameron himself even invented new technology specifically for this film, and 3-D is a must when viewing this computer-generated masterpiece. Human actors seamlessly interact with CGI counterparts and the motion capture technology of the Navi people is unparalleled.
Of course all the eye candy in the world is completely worthless without a good story to go with it. Avatar is not the most original or creative film in terms of plot, characters, or action. But it is at least up to par on all three of those categories. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, Terminator: Salvation) is a disabled Marine in the year 2154. He is taking over an important mission left by his identical twin brother who was killed during battle. The Avatar program’s purpose is for humans to kinetically link with Navi, Pandora natives, bodies that are grown in a lab. Once linked, they can then communicate with the natives to try and find a diplomatic way for humans to collect the precious mineral the planet possesses. However, the company in charge of the operation has a more covert use in mind for the Avatar program.
Sam Worthington is developing a niche for himself as the strong and complicated, yet vulnerable protagonist. There is not a lot of background on Jake Sully in this film, but Worthington is great at making audiences feel like they’ve known him for years. He has deepness in his expressions and mannerisms that screams, “troubled past.” The rest of the cast and voice-over actors fill their parts nicely and Sigourney Weaver’s appearance gives the film the sci-fi stamp of approval.
However, there are some troubling facets of Avatar that may actually be purposeful by Cameron. The part of Quaritch, (Stephen Lang, Public Enemies), is the cookie-cutter, stereotypical military drill sergeant that speaks in cliché dialogue and always thinks a bomb is better than diplomacy. Quaritch is just a cog in the troubling vision Cameron has for the human race. It’s difficult to accept that over 100 years into the future the human order has not only halted its evolution, it’s actually regressed. Although this should not be such a shock considering the multiple works in which Cameron has shared his distain for human nature, i.e. Aliens, Terminator. What sets Avatar’s case apart from Cameron’s past films is how the malevolence of human beings is not hidden in a cause for the “greater good.” Except for the small group of rebels, the humans in Avatar seem to be completely void of a conscious. The hired military personnel is completely brainwashed and holds no line between right and wrong. It is also left unanswered whether the Navi are the first extra terrestrials that humans have come in contact with, and if so, how could we leave it up to a greedy corporation to be the first to engage them? Some more background on the plummet of humanity was needed in this film so the audience could accept the belligerent behavior of the human threat. Although, it could be argued that many viewers will not have a problem with this acceptance, as they may share the same pessimistic view of the human race that Cameron has warned us about so many times before. Avatar is one of the few films that are powerful enough to turn human loyalties against its own kind, which is also a decision that conflicts Jake Sully in the film.
In its infancy, Avatar has already frozen its place in carbonite as one of the most important sci-fi films of all time. True, it will be more for the cutting-edge special effects than story writing, and the characters will never reach the iconic level of a Luke Skywalker or Ellen Ripley. Avatar will most likely be remembered as a milestone in movie making and more of an overall great experience than a great film.
Story: 7.5
Acting: 7.5
Writing: 7.0
Captivation: 9.5
Replay Value: 9.5
Total = 8.2
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