Avatar – Review

When there is incredible hype surrounding a film prior to it being released, an audience’s expectations can spiral out of control. It’s been nearly a decade since James Cameron last directed a picture, 1997′s Titanic, a film that not only scored a slew of Oscars, but went on to become one of the biggest box office draw in the history of the medium. That’s not an easy proposition to construct a follow-up too. In the years since, Cameron has flirted with documentaries, and has more or less seemingly left film alone all together, but when word came that he was indeed returning to direct a new film, let alone a sci-fi tale, collectively, everyone held their breathes in anticipation for what was surely going to be an event.

Now, we were faced with this scenario before. After years of incredible (what else word could we use?) excitement, anticipation, and glee, George Lucas gave us a new Star Wars film. While no film maker can ever create something that could rival fan imagination, so suffice to say, Episode I: The Phantom Menace was an epic letdown. It was a dagger into the hearts of many, that would take years afterward to eventually sooth, and even for some, the betrayal has forever stained. The parallels between Episode I and Avatar are interesting. Both were hotly hyped and anticipated, while widely scrutinized. The trailer for Avatar, as well as some of the first footage that leaked, cooled many from its potential, and even some scenes were reminiscent of some of the battles on Naboo in Episode I. As sci-fi fans, we do not need another disappointment, especially one like Avatar, that promised to be an event picture that could possibly be a game changer.

Luckily, there’s one key difference between Episode I and Avatar: James Cameron delivered a sweeping sci-fi tale, with action, adventure, and gorgeous special effects. Lucas did not.

In the years off, Cameron has not let the mediocre Titanic and the time away to tarnish his ability to craft huge adventures that marry awe, action, and special effects together. While his previous pictures are genre classics, those are strictly genre pictures with elements that succeed in telling the right story within their genre conventions. This film hits those notes, but is also a bit more transcendent. It feels like a snippet from a lost time, instead of a film. Avatar, while being a thrilling adventure with all of those elements of his prior films: action, great storytelling, wonderful special effects, is rich and deep with subtext. Cameron has something to say, and while Avatar‘s story structure has a left over feeling from films like Dances with Wolves and his own Aliens, Cameron molds some themes and subtext that adds to the experience.

And what an experience it is.

The scale of this film is huge, something you won’t know until you see it. It hard not to use big ideas when describing the impact of seeing Avatar on the IMAX in 3D (the only preferable way to see it), but for a 1933 movie-going public seeing King Kong for the first time is that type of impact and event that Avatar has for us today. The near 150 minute film draws you in to the world, and by the end, you’re not only wowed, but have been fully engrossed into the characters and their culture. This world Cameron has created feels strangely like Earth, but with an exotic twist. There’s a good reason for that. Cameron wants you to feel comfortable in the world, so he can engage us with the Nu’vi (those blue alien creatures) and their world. It is then, Cameron can use this to give us his themes and subtext. It’s not hard to see what he is saying. Man’s folly is to conquer. Greed, rather corporation greed, and capitalism is the root of man’s evil, and whatever we want, we take. Man in this film, is seeking this highly profitable rock and the Nu’vi are in our way. Such images of what the early colonial Americans did to the Native Americans are an easy connection, but subtle jabs at our current climate in Iraq and our Recession are also made. But it’s never a lecture, nor a preach. Avatar is a mirror for us.

A unique element in the film is how everything is an avatar for a user. Whether it’s the humans using avatars for the Nu’vi hosts, or the Nu’vi using creatures to control, or even us, the audience, being an avatar within the film, is a clever element. Just how ground-breaking is Avatar? Why don’t we let time decide that, as we are self-aware of whatever promised game changing properties it might inspire. But there’s no doubt about it: James Cameron is back, and Avatar is an experience that must be tried on to be believed.

James, don’t wait another 10 years.

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