Movie Review: Avatar (3D)

“Just relax and let your mind go blank. That shouldn’t be too hard for you”

This is the best advice I can give you when you strap in for the breathtaking rollercoaster ride that is Avatar. It has been a very long time since i’ve seen a film that has had me grinning from ear to ear, and continually delivering those “wow” moments.

Forget all the criticism, take a deep breath and let yourself be immersed into Pandora. It is a world of immense beauty, unbelievable detail, and is the setting for what I believe to be one of the best story lines I have seen in a long time.

James Cameron is back, and every director from this day forward will be having nightmares of their movie reviews saying things like, “It’s not Avatar”, “The effects are ok, but nowhere near the quality of Avatar”. Forget everything you have seen before Avatar, because every other film you have seen will look pale in comparison.

James has delivered a nuclear weapon of film-making that will blow your mind. Life has been found on the moon of a gas planet far from our universe, called Pandora. On Pandora is a super-expensive energy resource called “Unobtanium”, which humans are mining.

There is an atmosphere on Pandora, but humans are unable to breathe it without a special mask. Locals, the Na’Vi, are a tall blue human-like civilisation who live in the jungle. To communicate with them, humans have bioengineered Avatars, which are made by a mix of human and Na’Vi DNA. Humans control these Avatars through a special machine that is connected to their Avatar. They can use those Avatars to explore Pandora. Imagine a MMORPG “avatar” (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) and you’re getting the idea.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a hardened marine that is also a paraplegic as the result of combat back on Earth. His twin brother was a scientist who was a part of the Avatar program, and it just so happens that Jake’s DNA also matches the Avatar grown from his twin. He enters Pandora from a Cryosleep transporter with no training, but an offer. He can use the Avatar and become part of that program to explore Pandora with a fully functioning body, and have the use of legs again.

Sigourney Weaver fills the role of the lead scientist, and it is nice to see Sigourney back in another sci-fi epic. There are many strong actors in Avatar. Stephen Lang and Michelle Rodrieguez to name a few.

Pandora is a strange but beautiful place that is filled with danger. But the real danger is humans, the corporation, who want to move the Na’Vi from their home ground as they are sitting on the largest deposit of Unobtanium.

Sully finds himself in the Na’vi tribe and over time, falls in love with one of the Na’Vi, Neytiri (Amazingly played by Zoe Saldana). This leads to the best 20 minutes of a sci-fi conflict I have ever seen.

James Cameron brings detail, benchmark-setting CGI, and amazing touches to set Avatar apart from every movie that has been produced to date. His 400+ million budget was very well spent, and you will find yourself looking at Na’vi as if they actually existed. Gone are the tell-tale signs of CGI that made it easy to spot. I was waiting for flaws in the entirety of the movie, and found none.

If you can see it in 3-D, make sure you do so. 2-D would be amazing, but 3-D is a whole new world. James makes incredibly good use of 3-D in ways you have not seen before. The best part of 3-D was that I quickly forgot that i was watching it in a third dimension. There are no “cheesy” shots done only for 3-D.

If I was able to rate this a 6/5, I would. But this gets a solid 5 stars from me. You cannot afford to miss this movie on the big screen.

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