FILM REVIEW- Avatar

Avatar (12A)

Where? In the cinema, on a 3D screen

3D’s future is in the balance…

Plot? Jake Sully (Worthington) is a crippled marine who is asked by humans to help conquer the alien race na’vi living on Pandora by disguising himself as one of them through and alternate body known as an avatar.

Review-

For film fanatics hype has weighed down on this movie for what feels likes eons. After all James Cameron’s incessant boasting about it being the first film shot completely in 3D and a new breakthrough in films boundaries, it could inevitably only disappoint.

But make no mistake, this wasn’t made for the cynics. It was always aimed at the largest audience possible, those who couldn’t care less for film snobs and their moaning, and just wanted a good night out. On that level it delivers. But it misses out on classic status.

One flaw is it’s far too bloated and overlong. At over two and a half hours long Cameron’s pared down, efficient story telling skills he so skilfully to utilised back in 1984 b-movie classic The Terminator are long gone.

Instead you get a over stuffed story, characters as shallow as a puddle and dialogue occasionally so wooden it splinters in your ears as you hear it.

But if one of the essentials to good Sci-fi is creating a convincing alternative world, Cameron has redeems many of these problems.

Pandora is one of the most convincing settings ever seen on film. With its lush green forests that fill the screen, crumbling mountains that inexplicably hang in mid-air and a selection of alien wildlife never before imagined this environment alone can envelope and immerses you like nothing else.

Unfortunately the heavy handed plot usually barges in and ruins the illusion. It’s regurgitations of bits of Dances with Wolves, Aliens and even Transformers aren’t entirely off-putting, but they certainly diminish some of the films more original touches, namely the idea of alternative body technology, avatars.

Made possible through body capture technology, the fact Sigourney Weaver in her blue faced Na’vi form looks real is as impressive as it is disturbing.

But one of the films most hyped innovations, the 3D, is nowhere near the leap forward hoped. 3D technology only really works when things are coming out of the screen at you, but Cameron has not gone down that route. Instead every scene is supposedly in 3D, but you rarely notice it. Not one moment or scene in the film is made significantly more exciting or involving by boasting a third dimension.

But even if the 3D was so stunning it blew your eyes away the same stodgy film would be underneath.

So in summary, this is a film where the special effects are its main selling point. If you like to see a films budget all up on the screen you will get your moneys worth.

But if you hoped that all the whizz-bang wizardry would be coupled with an equally stunning plot and multi-layered characters you’ll have to wait.

Verdict- Go in with expectations set accordingly and this will go down smoothly, but it’s hardly a memorable experience. (3/5)

Go further…

· The Terminator is still, arguably, Cameron’s most satisfying movie, and it’s technically only a B-movie. Go figure.

· Sam Worthington has now notched his dumb action movie tally to two, after Terminator Salvation earlier this year. It says a lot that despite being an android in that movie he is far more likable than he is here in Avatar.

· This lost to Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel when the films first went head to head (last Wednesday) in the US, making $16 million to Alvin’s $20 million.

Trailer…