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James Cameron, Avatar
12/20/2009 With its groundbreaking effects and innovative filmmaking techniques, Avatar has just raised the bar for what future features can accomplish. It’s not quite a masterpiece, but it’s a pretty unforgettable experience nonetheless. What you’ve essentially got here is an imaginative take on the John Smith / Pocahontas story, with a dash of The Matrix thrown in as well. The film’s Smith, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a last-minute substitute called upon by the U.S. Armed Forces to carry out an important tactical mission: learning the ways of a tribe of “savages” called the Na’vi, a group of natives living on lands rich with a rare, profitable rock. “Na’vi” is surely an abbreviated way of referring to the tribe as Native Americans. They arm themselves with bows and arrows, use chants as ways of cheering and communicating, and they are very much in sync with the earth and all its gifts. Like Neo, Sully and his crew are transported to another place via machines. In Pandora, Sully, now in the body of an avatar, is saved by the film’s Pocahontas, Neytiri (voiced by Zoe Saldana), the princess daughter of Eytukan (voiced by Wes Studi) and Moat (CCH Pounder). Just like Pocahontas’ father, Eytukan mulls over the idea of killing the intruder, but his more accepting (though much more intimidating) wife spares Sully’s life, opting instead to have her daughter teach him the ways of their people. Although Jake is not welcomed with open arms by a prominent member of the tribe, Tsu’tey (voiced by Laz Alonzo), it doesn’t take him too long to grow on everyone else. From there, you can probably guess where the story goes just from watching the trailers: Jake begins to understand the Na’vi, he falls for Neytiri, and a giant culture clash between the natives and the humans comes to the forefront in a pretty big way. The concept of a white American man in a foreign land isn’t altogether new, but the plot isn’t the focal point here. To say that the special effects in the film are amazing may just be the biggest understatement of the year. The details are unreal: the avatars actually look like their human counterparts, their facial and body movements are flawless, and when you see creatures like the flying banshees, it’s a struggle to keep your jaw from dropping. To put it simply, these are probably the best cinematic visual effects I’ve ever seen, second only to those used in Jurassic Park. When you see the film, you owe it to yourself to see it properly, meaning you’ll need to watch it in 3-D. Seeing it this way allows you to feel as if you’re right next to the action (and I would know, I sat in the top row in the very back of the theatre). Worthington and Saldana turn in the film’s two best performances, acting well on their own but even better when they share the screen. Pounder, as usual, makes the most of her relatively short time as well. James Horner’s score was described by director James Cameron as being his best, and while I don’t think I would go so far as to say that, the composer does provide a nice set of instrumental music that fits in well with the film and only rarely overwhelms it. Still, the film isn’t perfect. The characters are all pretty one-dimensional, using a lot of recycled lines that you’ve heard in many other movies (“I’m just another dumb grunt”). Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and Parker (Giovanni Ribisi), in particular, have the least amount of layering to them. Quaritch just wants to kill things, and Parker, despite all the evidence presented to him, can’t fathom why trees would be important to anybody. But in the grand scheme of things, the film’s faults are relatively minor. The star of the picture is the special effects, and they don’t disappoint. Cameron’s thrown down the gauntlet. Now it will be interesting to see who takes the capabilities of modern-day filmmaking even further. Comments [post a comment]Comments are closed |
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Saturday, March 13, 2010
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