Jan. 22, 2010 | The Clarion
Arts & Life
Page 7
Cameron's 'Avatar' surpasses expectations
A review of the 2nd highest grossing film of all-time, ‘Avatar.’
by Travis Wireback
Editor in Chief
James Cameron has done it again. Twelve
years after his last film, Cameron matched
and then surpassed the success of Titanic with
his new film, ‘Avatar’ ‘Avatar’s’ storyline
is engrossing,
but not
groundbreaking.
What is
groundbreaking,
however, is
Cameron’s
seamless
integration of
CGI (computer
generated
images)
technology
and live action.
This technology
allows Cameron
to create an
aesthetically
incredible movie
that leaves the
viewer in awe.
The plot
of Avatar is
reminiscent of
‘Dances with
Wolves’ or ‘The
Last Samurai,’
and really
doesn’t deviate
too much from
the standard plotlines of those movies.
However, the visual effects take those two
story lines, dose them with acid, and then
mix in an idyllic tropical forest and floating
mountain scenes to create a visually
stunning masterpiece.
The story is set in 2154, with humans
engaging in a mining effort on a moon
called Pandora, which orbits a far-off star.
Humans are there due to the presence of
a mineral called ‘unobtanium’ which, as
suggested by its name, is unobtainable on
Earth.
The protagonist, Jake Sully has been
enlisted to help with the effort by the
corporation in charge of the mining. His
job is to help coimect with the indigenous
population, a species caUed the Na’vi, who
are lean, blue, around 12 feet tall and whose
bones are naturally carbon-fiber
Sully
does this by
controlling
an Avatar, an
organically
grown human/
Na’vi hybrid,
which is
matched to a
specific human
through their
DNA. Humans
coimecttothem
by mentally
inhabiting the
body of the
Avatar which
has been
matched to
them.
Sully, an
ex-Marine
who is now
a paraplegic,
is chosen
following the
death of his
twin brother
because he is
a genetic match
to the Avatar made for his brother and
the cost in money and time of creating a
replacement Avatar for a new crewmember
would be astronomical.
Once the action moves to Pandora, the
plot begins to look like Dances with Wolves
or The Last Samurai, mainly because Sully
is a member of a group whose goals wiU
cause a confrontation between his people
and that of the indigenous population.
However, as in the aforementioned movies.
he develops a relationship with the natives,
and also estabhshes a love interest.
What follows is very predictable. Sully
goes native, there’s confrontation with
members of his species who don’t get
the complexity of the native culture, and
Jake leads his new community into battle.
With such an easily predictable plot, how
was Cameron (who wrote, directed and
produced ‘Avatar’) able to keep audiences
worldwide engrossed in the film for its
lengthy 163-minute runtime?
As mentioned earlier, this film is an
almost psychedelic journey. Cameron
takes you through beautiful landscapes
and unbelievable flights on the Na’vi’s
domesticated steeds. Throughout the
whole experience, you have to constantly
remind yourself that this movie is almost
entirely CGI.
Furthermore, while the plot is predictable,
the way the storylines are interwoven makes
the 163 minutes seem almost too short.
Another interesting part of the movie
is its underlying theme of enviroimiental
responsibflity. The movie showcases the
immorality of destroying a planet and a
culture, simply for a resource that wfll net
you a lot of cash (read: oil).
It also has a staunchly anti-war message.
The final 30 or so minutes include the
seemingly needless death of numerous
Na’vi and humans in an epic battle scene.
Although it is one of the coolest movie
battle scenes I’ve ever witnessed, far
outstripping the end of The Last Samurai,
you find yourself wondering if death and
war are ever really necessary.
High standards most certainly apply to a
man who proclaimed himself “King of the
World” while accepting Oscars for Titanic.
Nothing short of excellence would suffice,
especially after 13 years of waiting for
Avatar. As I said at the beginning, James
Cameron has done it again. The bar, which
was set almost impossibly high foflowing
the success of the epic movie Titanic, has
been re-raised. The only question that
remains following Avatar is: What will
come next?