The marketing bombardment that preceded the release of James Cameron’s new sci-fi fantasy film Avatar pretty much rendered the movie review-proof. Fruitless are the opinions of the humble film reviewer with audiences having been eroded by marketing attrition, feuled with the message that this will be ‘the movie event of the year’.
In much the same way that a new Transformers or Harry Potter instalment will triumph at the box-office regardless of quality, Avatar was always guaranteed to be a big money-spinner, rendering the story almost totally irrelevant.
12 years on from the personal obsession that became Titanic – then a groundbreaking $200m production – James Cameron is back doing what he does best, only this time the stakes have been upped significantly. Avatar’s $500m+ budget makes Titanic seem like a fishing trawler compared to the well oiled machine that’s invading cinemas worldwide this week.
With four Golden Globe nominations under its belt before you’ve even had chance to don your 3D specs, the film that will supposedly revolutionize the way effects movies are made seems to be well on its way to bringing a smile back to nervous faces at 20th Century Fox.
Avatar Synopsis
Resistance to Avatar is futile; in much the same way the indigenous population of the planet Pandora are powerless to stop the arrival of human explorers in the film’s narrative. The invaders are keen to research Pandora and help educate its people with the somewhat cloaked intention of harvesting its rich supply of the highly valuable mineral Unobtanium.
Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a paraplegic US marine, who, following the death of his brother on Pandora, has been given the opportunity to travel 4.3 light years from Earth to join the corporate-military operation. Due to their genetic match, the un-trained Jake is shipped in to resume his brother’s place on the Avatar program; a system where humans are given a genetically engineered body with which to (through a stream of confusing science) roam the otherwise inhospitable terrain of Pandora.
To enable a smooth integration into the environment the Avatars are exact replicas of Pandora’s indigenous tribe of blue-skinned aliens, who are averse and extremely hostile to their human visitors.
Old Hands Combine Again in Cameron’s Avatar
Cameron reunites with Sigourney Weaver for the first time since their collaboration on Aliens back in 1986. The actress plays the movie’s science officer Dr. Grace Augustine, who immediately takes a disliking to rookie recruit Jake Sully, whom she has the reluctant task of shepherding through the uneasy transition from human body to Avatar.
It seems slightly absurd that Cameron was initially reluctant to cast Weaver in the movie for fear of drawing comparison to his 80’s classic. Weaver even dyed her hair flame-red to avoid similarities between the fiery Augustine and the equally self-reliant Ellen Ripley. Strange then that Cameron felt the need to litter the movie with such clear references to Aliens. From Jake Sully’s slow awakening from hyper sleep in a cryogenic chamber in the opening scene, through to a very familiar power-walker showdown at the movie’s climax, Avatar seems very much a family-friendly version of Cameron’s sci-fi sequel. Even the central theme of a money-driven company using military pawns to conquer an alien race for its own means is strikingly similar.
Disappointingly, even parts of the storyline that don’t have their roots in the Alien franchise are painfully unoriginal.
Star-Crossed Alien Lovers
Having come to terms with the new lease of life his alien legs have given him, Jake Sully becomes torn between his new life amongst the Pandorans – who take the stranger under their wing – and his military obligations.
While in his Avatar body Jake is granted the tutelage of tribal heiress Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) by her father and clan leader Eytukan. The locals see something within Jake that separates him from the rest of his destructive species, and as he is engrained into tribal life, his relationship with Neytiri soon grows beyond a teacher-apprentice façade.
Disappointingly, this love story is largely predictable from as early as the two characters’ first meeting, a scene which takes place deep in the Pandoran jungle when Jake is rescued from certain death by a sympathetic Neytiri.
Almost as predictable is the inevitable confrontation between Sully and his superiors, in particular the robust Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang); occuring when Sully becomes torn between his fettered reality and the freedom that a surrogate life on Pandora grants him.
Avatar – Distracting Effects Budget
However, this poor storyline is masked by some spectacular special effects (and they are spectacular). Avatar's team of animators and cinematographers may as well stockpile the polish for their Oscars already as there certainly isn’t a film in the land that can match the sheer scale and attention to detail of the animation and motion-capture technologies utilised in this film.
You could argue that the visual ‘experience’ of Avatar far outweighs the rather hollow story. Although in the same breath it’s also worth considering that with half a billion pounds at your finger tips you could make a visually entertaining movie out of an adaptation of the phone directory. The saying that it’s possible to ‘throw good money after bad’ might be a little harsh on Avatar’s storyline, which isn’t rotten to the core, but the ridiculous amount of money spent on this film is certainly papering over more than a few cracks of considerable size.
Cameron’s imagination is certainly on a par with the ethereal genius of a George Lucas or Peter Jackson, but Avatar’s dreamy world is perhaps lacking in the gritty, lived-in nature of a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings universe. Perhaps it belongs as a game console incarnation rather than bearing the burden of such a huge pile of dollar bills thanks to the colossal demands of self-confessed ‘king of the world’ James Cameron.
Unsurprisingly, as this is typed, Avatar: The Game is hitting stores worldwide as part of Fox’s multi-pronged bid to recoup those precious pennies.
Verdict: 3/5
Gareth Harding - Gareth is a 27 year old freelance writer based in the north-east of England. 'I have had a keen interest in all aspects of film and ...
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