Avatar: An Epic Film Review:

Avatar: An Epic Film Review:

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Title: James Cameron’s: Avatar

Written and Directed by: James Cameron

Studio(s): Lightstorm Entertainment and Dune Entertainment

Running Time: 161 Minutes

The first decade of the 2000’s and we’ve gotten a lot of mileage from the film industry, but thanks to the director extraordinaire (James Cameron) we’re given a great film that brings this decade to a memorable end and helps set the benchmark in term of quality storytelling, direction and the use of technology for the decade ahead. Really, this film does everything needed to be an actual cinematic experience like no other. Anything with 15 years to be in the making has the chance to be a flop or success—Avatar is a true success that must been in its 3D glory as soon as possible.

Story: The year 2154 and mankind is expanding into the stars for the sake of profit and resources on offer. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is caught in the middle of it all as he takes the place of his twin brother in the Avatar Program, a project intent on creating a smoother understanding between the “alien invaders” (Humans) and the inhabitants of Pandora (Na’vi) who are 3 meter tall humanoids with blue skin and catlike features. The whole 161 minutes of film doesn’t fail to carry itself with a plot that might appear to be simple (comparable to an episode of The Smurfs mixed with A Princess of Mars, District 9 and a battle sequence from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) from the onset, but you’ll be mistaken to think that once you get twenty minutes in. The film has a heart and soul that gives it a rare gift of realness to everything onscreen—and doesn’t refer to CGI so perfectly used you’d be thinking “did they build that?” for most of the film.

James Cameron is like an artist of filmmaking technology and Avatar is the opus of all films as it creates a benchmark of what films are able to convey to the viewer. He’s set a benchmark for the next decade of film making—Star “with a J.J Abram Twist” Trek did a lot to make the world of cinema a believable place, but Avatar kicks everything into a whole new ballpark. The Na’vi and alien animals have the very essence of life, the environment will have you wishing “I want to go there” and mechas (and machines alike) will leave you thinking “I swear Master Chief did something like that once?” And the whole epic CGI gets better once you’re watching it in the comfort of 3D. Once you’re watching it through the darken lens of those special specs you’ll be wishing every film (and everything you watch) was in the same realm of beauty as Avatar.  

If anyone thinks the CGI isn’t that impressive or makes use of the words “it’s pretty good CGI”, they’re mistaken. You must see this film in 3D to fully realise just how far cinema has come in this decade and appreciate the fact that when James Cameron makes a film, you won’t be disappointed.

The casting of Sam Worthington and Co made this film the fully defined gem of a cast that couldn’t have been better cast. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is the learner who grows from simple soldier to a warrior fighting for peace, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is a true badass of an antagonist you’ll love to hate, Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) is the comic relief who isn’t goofy for the sake of it but because of the adorable realness he has as a character, Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) the redhead of the idealist scientist who helps Jake Sully along the way, Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez) is back from the dead of Resident Evil and fights back to be the epic pilot, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña) the motion captured Na’vi love interest who holds her own in any fight, Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) an antagonist who seems ready to switch sides out of guilt and Dr. Max Patel (Dileep Rao) a tubby scientist who might become the next Carmine for his unassuming awesomeness. To sum up the casting of the film is going to be a simple one: It was perfect.

The action packed epic, filled with beautiful scenery, romance that grows naturally against the tidal wave of shit romance (Twilight) and Earth shattering CGI—Avatar is the film that needs to be seen on a very large screen with those free 3D shades in tow. Read this! Watch it! And see it again! And don’t miss it!

If you have pop culture that is a mix of books and childhood cartoons, then you’re likely to find similarities popping up throughout Avatar concerning characters and setup: Colonel Miles Quaritch is Gargamel (The Smurfs) in a scaled up form with Azrael and magic replaced by a hulking mecha suit and army, the Na’vi are The Smurfs ramped up with their very own Smurfs village and Jake Sully character and situation might bring up the thought of A Princess of Mars.

Thought of the Day: December 21st:

Got my 3D shades, have you?