James Cameron has been a filmmaker since 1978, and to this day, if we skip “Piranhas 2″ and start in 1984 with “Terminator”, he has only made six films, counting this one. All of them exceptional. Cameron isn’t into quick jobs. He tackles every project like it’s the most important thing he’ll ever do, and the passion he puts into his movies always shows and ensures that whatever he comes up with will easily make the best efforts of hacks like Michael Bay seem laughable by comparison.
“Avatar” is a fantastic film. It’s flawed — maybe more than any other movie Cameron directed. But it’s also his most ambitious and daring film, and what he and his crew have achieved here warms my heart. Nothing is half-assed about this production. Every inch of it was carefully constructed, and even if it fails to work for you — you’ve got to respect the effort. It’s passionate filmmaking.
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic ex-marine whose twin brother, a scientist named Tommy, has died. Tommy was part of a team of scientists on planet Pandora, where the invading humans and a native species called Na’vi are clashing for territorial control — thanks to the former being interested in an extremely valuable mineral the planet possesses. Jake takes his brother’s place as an avatar pilot — avatars are bioengineered versions of the Na’vi, controlled mentally by the scientists to roam around the planet (due to the atmosphere being toxic to humans) and improve relations with the native population.
However, the scientists’ efforts are gradually being replaced by a military approach led by Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who sees no future in diplomacy with the Na’vi — an opinion shared by corporate little shit Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi). Together, they convince Jake to report not only to the team of scientists, but to their team well, detailing the infrastructure of the Na’vi land for tactical purposes. But when Jake’s avatar manages to be welcomed by the natives, he falls in love with their culture and their world, and finds himself in a very difficult position.
Which pretty much means that in “Avatar”, Cameron makes the humans the villains, and has the task of making the audience root for the Na’vi instead of our own species. While normally this wouldn’t be a problem for my misanthropic self, Cameron made sure we would cooperate by creating a fictional alien world that is nothing short of magnificent: from the vegetation, to the biology of every creature, to the religion of the Na’vi, every detail of the world has been carefully thought and executed — to call the experience “fascinating” is an euphemism. Even some details that would usually go unnoticed anyway are explained by the film, like in the moment Quaritch mentions the planet’s low gravity — which is, after all, why the Na’vi are ten feet tall and why everything in the planet is huge in comparison to humans, who evolved in higher gravity. Speaking of that, I was happy, in the beginning of the film, to see the interior of an interstellar ship being in zero-g while travelling in space, since the concept of articificial gravity has always been an omnipresent sci-fi movie cliche.
I will avoid describing the details of this world any further — it would be a disservice to whoever hasn’t seen the film yet, and useless to who already has. Part of the beauty here is to be constantly surprised by the creativity of the filmmakers in detailing the planet they’ve created. Okay, just one more, mild thing: even the deity worshipped by the Na’vi receives a vague, but interesting scientific explanation — like a version of the Internet invented by Nature, would be my definition. And this is important so something that happens in the third act sounds plausible to skeptical viewers like myself.
Cameron is less successful with his characters — a few miss the mark, however most work very well. It’s always interested me, the way Cameron makes stereotypes and cliches work for him — some of the characters he’s created throughout his filmography aren’t deep, but strongly characterized: the hysterical Hudson from “Aliens”, the unstable Lt. Coffey from “The Abyss”, the asshole Simon from “True Lies”, the arrogant Caledon Hockley from “Titanic”. In “Avatar”, these stereotypes are used to portray the military and the corporations in a farcical way: while Parker is introduced playing mini-golf in the middle of an operations room, Colonel Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang in a competent, balanced performance, has a simplistic approach to his job, a southern accent and apparently enjoys practicing a few punches while piloting mecha armor (one of the film’s most inspired visual gags, and there are many moments of well-done comic relief throughout the movie).
And while the antagonistic Tsu’tey (Laz Alonso) is a walking cliche, laughing at the protagonist’s efforts to join the Na’vi, and Mo’at (CCH Pounder) is a stereotyped shamanic leader (in this case the stereotype fails), the protagonist himself, Jake, is not only very well interpreted by Sam Worthington but also interestingly developed by Cameron’s script — a good example being the scene when he is delighted to recover the use of his legs through his avatar. As the movie progresses, I started to share his awe and admiration toward the Na’vi culture and their land — which is a vital point, and one Cameron succeeds in brilliantly. And if Norm (Joel Moore) and Max (Dileep Rao) didn’t leave much of an impression on me, Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and the pilot Trudy (Michelle Rodriguez) are both compelling in their distinct portrayals of “tough women” that are so typical in Cameron’s films — while Weaver is always excellent, especially working with him, Rodriguez also manages to leave a mark with significantly less screen time. Also I can’t resist noting: goddamn she’s beautiful (and to be fair, so is Weaver, who remains attractive at sixty years of age).
But the heart of the movie is truly Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana in a brilliant performance that rivals Andy Serkis as Gollum in “Lord Of The Rings”. Always moving with sharp precision yet irresistible grace, Saldana’s expressions are remarkable — from her intimidating scowl to her beautiful, sincere smile. She uses the amazing performance capture technology to its fullest — in fact, she makes that technology her bitch for the entire duration of the film, resulting in a character that feels completely alien and yet beautiful, admirable and fascinating. Completely aware of this, Cameron introduces her with an excellent close-up of her face as she examines the stranger in front of her.
It should come as no surprise that the visual effects in “Avatar” are the greatest achievement in the area I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing in Cinema so far. And it’s not just the magnificent rendering, the detailed performance capture and the amazing eyes of the Na’vi, always full of life unlike most digital creations in other films — the colorful cinematography and unbelievable art direction are vital to create a three-hour-long visual spectacle. Even the animation of the Na’vi’s ears is impressive.
Once again proving his commitment not only as an innovator but also as a filmmaker, Cameron never uses the technology for the sake of using it, instead applying it as a great storytelling tool — resulting in an unforgettable scene that has everything that’s good about “Avatar”: Jake’s first flight on an Ikran. As he and Neytiri fly around floating islands, beautiful landscapes and framed by the colossal planet that decorates Pandora’s sky — all this to James Horner’s excellent soundtrack — I realized I had a wide smile on my face, delighted by what I was seeing.
But “Avatar” is a flawed gem. Its many qualities are not enough to overshadow its problems — aside from some of the weak characters, the narration by Jake — thinly disguised as a videolog — comes off as unecessary most of the time. The movie also loses some of its emotional momentum on the third act, when Cameron allows for excessive dramatic slow motion, and falls victim to some cliches — like a character dying on another’s arms — when it would have been more impactful if he was found already dead.
However, I said it loses emotional momentum — when it comes to action, though, the third act is sublime, featuring a sky battle that is almost impeccably filmed, never leaving any doubt as to what’s happening in it, and competently scored by James Horner as well (except for a few moments when, in typical Horner fashion, the composer overdoes the drama a bit). And the fight between a Na’vi and a human in a mecha suit is not only exceptional, it also reminded me pleasantly of a similar moment in “Aliens” — except I was rooting for the alien this time. Full circle, eh?
Many complained about the film’s “obvious” message, but I don’t see that as a flaw. The message itself is perfectly valid in today’s world — just replace the movie’s fictional mineral with oil. Honestly, would the same message be better under layers and layers of subtlety? No, in this case I think it would only seem more convoluted — Cameron wanted this one to be obvious, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be. And at least within the film’s universe, the message works. I didn’t want the humans to succeed in their invasion of Pandora because at that point I had already fallen in love with the planet, and the tractors piloted by humans destroying all that amazing vegetation and threatening such an interesting culture were painful to witness.
“Avatar” is a fascinating, beautiful experience. Its main flaws are hard to overlook, but Cameron thinks big, and sets out to bring his vision to life as best as he can.
I went to an alien planet and in the end I was sad I had to leave. I could care fucking less about the flaws. “Avatar” is a resounding success.
OBS: In 3D, I believe the theatre I went to wasn’t properly equipped to handle the film, since the glasses darkened the visuals immensely, ruining the cinematography. I could tell, however, that the 3D is properly used, never trying to call attention to itself gratuitously (pay attention to that one, Robert Zemeckis). But probably due to the problematic 3D theatre I went to, I found the experience much more beautiful in 2D.
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