Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)

Welcome to the future of cinema; its' not so bright.

Reportedly, director James Cameron finished his first Draft of Avatar in 1994. That’s just after Arnie’s terrorist shoot ‘em up True lies, and a few years before my no.1 guilty pleasure in life, Titanic. Avatar, we are lead to believe, is the future of film. Avatar, a film so futuristic, Cameron had to wait 15 years for the rest of the world to catch up. Visually, that claim may ring true, but taken any other way, the future of cinema will not be much different from the pop-corn fodder dominating multiplexes summer after summer.

I went into the IMAX cinema, put on my oversized shades, and waited in giddy excitement. When the credits rolled, I left overwhelmed by what I had just seen. First and foremost, Avatar is a beautiful film. Pandora, the home of the Na’vi (a combination of smurfs and elves with a tree hugging life philosophy) is expertly crafted. Waterfalls, mountain ranges and neon lit woodlands are fantastically and realistically put onto screen. Unlike many critics, I completely buy into the potential of 3D cinema. Cameron uses the technology with real maturity. The majority of 3D films so far have used it as a cheap gimmick, thrusting debris, body parts and other various objects out of the screen, thus, reminding the viewer they are sitting in a cinema watching a film. The 3D in Avatar takes away the flat barrier that a cinema screen presents; the third dimension should never be jumping out in front of the audiences face (I’m looking at you Final Destination 3D); it should create depth, feel like it can be stepped into. That’s immersive cinema, and Avatar pulls it off.

So far, I have shown nothing but praise for 160 minutes of ‘the future’. However, it is possible to shower the film with superlatives without referring to the most important part in film, its’ story. Post-modernists fear that there is nothing original left to say or make in our society. Every possible story and style has already been done. If you buy into that view, then Avatar clearly demonstrates this. I left the cinema high on a drug many Hollywood films offer, eye-candy. Its effects made me immediately called several people to tell them see the film. When the come down kicked in, and I actually began to think about what I had seen, the film’s flaws dominated my impression of the film.

The plot involves the ‘RDA Corporation’s’ attempts to mine for a valuable and rare mineral creatively titled ‘unobtanium’ which is found on Pandora. Due to the planets deadly atmosphere, certain humans are selected to use Na’vi avatars to research into the location of ‘unobtanium’ and learn the way of the natives. A new comer to this team, Jake Sulley (played by Sam Worthington), falls in love with a native, and decides to prevent RDA from destroying their home, which is where their mineral is situated.

Jake is a likable action hero, and his change from Pandora destroyer to Pandora’s saviour is done with some flair. His human friends in Avatar form are also engaging, if a little nerdy. Their exploration and adventures on the planet are initially thrilling; one highlight including a tense chase sequence after Jake disturbs a huge creature and runs for his giant blue 9ft life. However, after the first hour when we are soaked into a beautiful landscape, the pacing of the film drags. The plot itself seems to come from the class of script writing 101. The standard rough hero whose heart melts over the innocence of natives has been done many times before (see Dances with Wolves and The Last Samurai). Enemies are created, relationships are made and consummated, and the equilibrium is disrupted and can only be resolved by our hero.

Despite its predictability, the film feels baggy, at least an hour of it is unnecessary and at times confusing. Avatar clearly wants to become one of the classic film epics; this is clear due to its length and sincerity. If it is to join this cannon, it needs to have some epic ideas behind it to carry the audience through its length, or at least a tightly constructed, constantly moving plot.
Instead of something of substance filling in the gaps between the largely fantastic set pieces. Cameron fills the screen time with forced, un-subtle, left-wing hippy politics. The Na’vi are tree-huggers disguised as giant blue aliens. They dance round ‘the tree of life’ and communicate with nature.

One scene sees them resurrecting a dead body by meditating in a giant circle and talking to tree roots.

This admirable, yet rather half-hearted ‘save the planet’ tone is fine if Cameron could follow it through. Instead he completely un-does is message by donating the last 30 minutes of the film to gun pornography. The forest is set on fire, the peaceful ‘hippy’ Na’vi’s become deadly warriors, and everything natural is torn to shreds. Victory only comes when everything is burnt to the ground. What is left is a confused, unoriginal film that knows it has something impressive to show off but doesn’t know what to put in it. Instead, everything is thrown in. Every film cliché is here, including corny one liners and slow motion escapes.

When you are watching human flesh and blood actors, you can make an emotional attachment even in the weakest of filmic moments. This is due to our ability to read body language, whether it’s a tear, a laugh or the smallest flicker of the lips. All of this has been done by the cast, captured by incredible motion sensors and then manipulated by technology wizards to perfection. However, at times it can feel cold and clinical, and C.G.I blue giants no matter how impressively created they are, can never make up for the real thing. Due to this Avatar needs more than impressive visuals and breath-taking set pieces. It needs to have a script with real emotion, to make up for the synthetic characters on screen. It doesn’t, and due to this is nothing more than simple, well made, animated adventure film.

I liked Avatar, but as time seeps on from my last viewing of it, I think less and less of it. Visually, we have witnessed the future. There is a lot to enjoy in the film, but I guarantee when you take off your glasses and make your way back into your real life, you will only be left with a pretty but vacant memory of the film. Avatar is revolutionary, but only for good looking escapist entertainment and nothing more.