Avatar

So I have awoken from my almost two month review slumber. Lack of funds for films and finals for school have prevented me from keeping up to date on this review racket, but with the Oscar and Christmas months all up on us, I must say that my hibernation has resulted in my metaphorical evolution from a Metapod to a Butterfree and I am ready to tackle this season with my arms flailing.

And without further ado, on to James Cameron's long awaited Avatar.

Avatar follows a sect of ambitious humans as they make their way to the planet (well, actually its a moon) called Pandora as they scavenge for a mineral that is worth millions of dollars on Earth. In order to communicate with the indigenous people of the planet, a sub division of this squadron has developed a method for inhabiting the body of the aliens, also known as the Na'vi. Our hero must inhabit an "avatar" of one of these Na'vi bodies, learn their culture, and tell them to relocate. If you think that this sounds like a deliberate "The Last Samurai" , you are correct, only this one will blow your mind apart.

After watching the trailer and discovering that James Cameron's "brand new invention" was the motion capture technology that Robert Zemeckis has already whored to the industry, my anticipation for the film was shattered. And sure, it isn't a perfect film, not at all, but Cameron has given new life to this newborn and aging technique called motion capture. I found myself caring for the Na'vi, and even though it was clear what was "real" and what wasn't, I found myself being drawn to the CGI land of Pandora, and I found myself getting addicted to the place just like the protagonist does.

Yes, it is written and directed by James Cameron, so the obligatory lousy dialogue infects your ears and all of the human characters are so two-dimensional that it borderlines on caricature, but all of these problems are overshadowed by the massive spectacle that is washing over you. The film is visually mindblowing, and its achievements far outweigh its problems.

I'm not saying that this film is purely spectacle either. People could argue that Transformers 2 was a "visual achievement", and they would only be half right. There is a huge difference between watching Transformers and thinking "wow, that looked neat", and watching Avatar and thinking "NO! Don't bomb the tree of souls!" For all of the visual effects that Avatar uses, it uses them all to tell the story and to keep you attached to the characters. There was a choice near the end that I absolutely loathed, but it is a spoiler, so I wont say a damned thing. You will know it when you see it.

To make things simpler, Avatar was a SPECTACLEtacular film that kept me connected to the already intriguing plot. If you do plan on seeing it, do yourself a favor and catch it in IMAX 3D, just be careful to not get brains all over the theater.

A-