James Cameron's Multi-billion dollar sci-fi epic gets a review from us here at Cine-Apocalypse.
There are many different types of Science fiction films ranging from Alien Invasion, Government Conspiracy, Time Travel, Disaster and Fantasy. James Cameron's AVATAR falls into at least three of those categories and also into the genre of war. A lot like Cameron's earlier space battler, Aliens (1986), AVATAR, concerns the military present on a distant planet/moon. There for a nefarious deed. But where as Aliens was about the military neutralizing a threat to man kind, the military in Avatar are the threat, although this time we threaten the peaceful existence of a rave of aliens know as the Na'vi, 9 foot tall, blue humanoid creatures.
The story opens with a voice over from the main protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) talking about how fucked up the human race is. He's on board a military transport ship heading to the moon of Pandora, an Earth like satellite orbiting an unknown planet. When Jake lands he finds that although the moon is very much like Earth, the air is unbreathable, due to this all the humans have to wear special breathing masks. Inside the military compounds the air is breathable and we find out that Jake is to take his dead brother's place in an experiment known as the AVATAR program, run by Sigourney Weaver.
The plot then basically descends into a mixture of Pocahontis meets Dances with wolves starring creatures that look abit like over sized smurfs. But alas, this film isn't really about the story, It's all about the visiuals, and by god are they astounding, just like in Terminator 2, Cameron once again sets a bar for visual FX, shooting an a specially created 3D camera system, allowing him to shoot on a green screen but view as Pandora.
The Motion Capture is the best that has ever been put on screen, an entire race of photo realistic creatures that move and flow as though they are real. Peter Jackson had set a bar for this with Golem in the Lord of the Rings films, but Cameron not only passed the bar but came back, snapped it and took a steaming dump on it. But The Na'vi are not the only fantastic feat of FX, the other is the planet it's self, a completely photo realistic landscape of mountains, trees, water falls and plants, all created on a very powerful computer system. Add to this the 3D element and im not talking red and green or even polarised glasses im talking Digital 3D glasses, gives the film much more depth and unlike films that are converted to this process give the viewer the chance to actually feel like they are on Pandora.
Now unfortunately I was unable to see this film on the big screen and my first viewing was on DVD on a non HD television, so the whole experience was missed, but even on a standard CRT television this film looked incredible, and when I watched the DVD on my up scaling DVD player on a HD-ready TV in 1080i, it was even more incredible, so I guess on Blu-Ray my eyes may bleed.
The Cast is made up of some new emerging talent and some old pros, the new cast comprises of Sam Worthington, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel Moore and Zoe Saldana as the lead Na'vi who give an outstanding performance, the old pros being Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribbisi as the corporate head who is searching for the elusive Unobtanium (?). All the cast give pretty good performances and although Sam Worthington has trouble maintaining an American accent give a solid performance as the main character.
The DVD package is a huge disappointment and only has the film, scene selection and an audio/subtitles set up. For someone who is paying £17.99 on the DVD, they will feel they have been ripped off. There is not a single special feature on the disc, no commentary by Cameron, no behind the scenes documentary, there's not even a Trailer. This is apparently due to an extended collectors edition set to be released in November, after it is re-released in an extended version back into cinema's and the IMAX cinemas in the summer. I would save your money for now and wait until the Special Edition is released.
Saying all this, Avatar is the most unoriginal story told in the most Original and spectacular way ever put to celluloid. The film it's self gets an 9/10 and the DVD gets 4/10, only because it has the film on it.....
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