Movie Review: AVATAR
Holy Cow! I have not reviewed a movie since last year's TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN and that was, in fact, the only movie I reviewed all year. Damn. I promise to make that up to you all.
Anyway, I've made no bones about the fact that I have no idea what constitutes a good movie. All I know is what I like and what I don't like. And, in all honesty, I tend to like a lot. I try not to think too deeply about any media I "consume" because, well, if there is some sort of hidden meaning or subtext that the author intended, then I never think it's my place to say it is or isn't. So, with movies, I tend to just go with my gut feeling to help me determine if I like it or not.
AVATAR was a movie that I had a hard time "feeling".
Let me get this out right now, AVATAR is a beautifully visual movie. Everything that everyone has said about the movie being an absolutely gorgeous film has probably understated the shear spectacle. The movie is amazing to look at. But...
I'll, admit, I'm a visual whore when it comes to movies. I'll often overlook weak story and plot for the beauty going on the screen. But even I saw how shallow this film really is. Almost everything about the movie scream cliche. How cliche? Check this out:
Yup... someone went ahead and took the basic plot of Disney's POCAHONTAS, replaced the proper nouns with AVATAR characters, and you have the basic premise of Jame Cameron's film.
Add to that the one dimensional characters that populate the world. Grizzled and angry army guy? Check. Jarhead who follows orders but is forced between following duty and doing what's right? Check. Indian... I mean... tribal princess who shows the Jarhead the wonders of their world? Check, check, and triple check!
I don't want to sound like I'm hating on the film and that I didn't enjoy myself. Far from it... I enjoyed myself immensely. It's just that I couldn't overlook the shallow nature of the film. The problem I'm finding within myself is why am I harping on this film when I've seen my fair share of shallow movies. I don't know... maybe I just expect more from Director James Cameron.
So let's talk about something else shall we?
The main "human" characters were decently enough portrayed by the actors. Sam Worthington, who plays main character Jake Sully, did a decent, although wooden job. His range of emotional depth isn't what you would call "Oscar Winning" but served it's purpose. I do have some issues when Jake dons his avatar, as Worthington just doesn't have a broad enough range to successfully capture the emotions he's supposedly feeling though his voice. Luckily the CG makes up for it.
Stephen Lang played the same angry "I'm the military and I'll do what has to be done" sergeant that we've seen countless times before but plays it just fine (with minimal scenery chewing).
There are other "human" actors in the film but they really don't do anything to stand out. Sigourney Weaver kept bring up feelings of ALIENS within me. Michelle Rodriguez keep bring up feelings of hate within me. And everyone else brought up feelings of "meh" in me.
Where kudos should go to is Zoe Saldana who played tribal princess Neytiri. Of all of the characters introduced in the movie, it's her (ironically) CG character that is the most memorable. Maybe it's the fact that the character only exists in CG... or maybe the fact that the CG was done by facial recognition software that actually tracked the actresses facial movements and expressions, but hers was the only "real" character I enjoyed. No other Na'vi characters were remotely interesting (basic cannon fodder).
Speaking of CG... I've said it before and I'll say it again, this movie is GORGEOUS! CG has never been so fully realized. I remember when I first started seeing trailers for the film, I was worried. The CG looked too cartoonish. I've mentioned it before, but successful CG should blend into the scene. If I can tell that the actors are not actually standing in front of a 100 foot tall dinosaur, then the CG has failed it's job. But if there is anything that AVATAR should get all the praise in the world for, it's for the visuals they offer. Kudos go to the CG artists who brought the world to life because the level of layers and depth (and I don't mean from the 3d) is astounding. And the animation of the Na'vi... amazing.
Despite the criticism to the story, the visuals alone are enough to highly recommend watching this film at least once while it's in theaters. And if you go watch it, try watching it on IMAX to get the full visual beauty of the world.
FINAL GRADE: A-