Hot through the pixels—is Zoe Saldana hot, or is James Cameron? BOTH.
I had this spiel I would give, for a few weeks now, on why Avatar might fail to live up to the hype. What this primarily concerned, was director James Cameron's multifaceted ambition—most notably, to break into the frontier of 3D, to achieve an unparalleled pinnacle of C.G.I., and all the while creating a whole new universe just as epic as your Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Well, guess what, he did all that, and while I wouldn't say my expectations were 'blown away,' I will say they were met. High expectations met with high rewards.
Salvaged from the wreckage of Terminator: Salvation, budding star Sam Worthington heads the epic entertainment experience as Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine thrust into action on the Earth-like Pandora—a lush, vibrantly-exotic world populated by freakish creatures and a humanoid, hunter-gatherer species known as the Na'vi. Yet, this is no ordinary tour of duty. Sully is sent to the science department instead of the kick-ass one, headed by everybody's favorite Biology teacher, Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, resurrected-again!), where he is instituted into the Avatar program. Fusing the DNA of humans and the native Na'vi, Sully is given the means to control another physical body—a fully replicated Na'vi—called an Avatar. The program is meant to facilitate a "diplomatic solution," as explained by supreme-corporate-sleazeball Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi, playing Paul Reiser's Aliens part on steroids), for the purpose of uncovering some macguffin mineral named Uber-tanium or something. The other option, is war, represented by literally-scarred head of security Colonel Miles Quaritch (a showstopping Stephen Lang). And that's just the beginning, folks.
Shot in 3D, this lavish and complex world comes to life off-screen, but not really on it, if that makes sense. The 3D does seem to detract from the core material; half the time I was so awestruck that I found myself losing track of what was actually happening, almost an alienating (no pun-intended) feeling. And for as smart as a filmmaker (and person) James Cameron is, the world of Avatar seemed a bit slim, not to mention having a simply weak/weakly simple story. Everything was an evident distortion of something we already know; there were no "Whoa" Keanu Reeves-Matrix moments even with the C.G.I. and 3D in mind. It was more of a steady stream of awe. More of an experience than a movie.
The Na'vi, conveniently (i.e. embarrassingly) made up of a bunch of non-white actors (Zoe Saldana, Wes Studi, Laz Alonzo, CCH Pounder) are nonetheless played well, and surprisingly played period. This is where Cameron's delusions of grandeur come strictly into focus. The C.G.I. is like no other, and the performances are there and they're real and they're simply a joy to watch. Worthington effectively holds his own in the lead and doesn't mess it up, not letting the grand scale of the picture get away from him. It's nice to see Sigourney again—never has a role been so tailor-made—she fits it perfectly. As I mentioned, Lang practically steals the show as the main villain, but is kept at bay long enough not to overwhelm it. Ribisi is hammed up to the extreme but at least worth a laugh. Michelle Rodriguez's part feels vastly underwritten; a plot device and nothing more. But it's Zoe Saldana who really comes through. She's the heart and soul of this sometimes soulless epic, and I genuinely think she's worth a supporting look come awards time.
With all the technology, the preparation, the money, the hype, the expectations, everything, James Cameron has really done something special, making his case not only for best of the year, but for the best of the decade, as well. With District 9 still making waves, the ultimate sci-fi showdown since Star Wars v. Star Trek should come to a head this Spring, and I've got my popcorn ready. Each end-of-the-decade entry has changed the cinema as we know it, taking the rest of the genres by the hand and crossing them over into a new frontier. Either way, Cameron's has done it; he's changed things in the biggest and best way imaginable. Colonel Quaritch was right. We're not in Kansas anymore. We're in Avatar territory now.
***1/2 out of ****
~ Patrick Fryberger
2 comments:
The plot was very weak - it was a rehash of Dances with Wolves or maybe Last of the Mohicans. The graphics were mind blowing though. And I loved the final battle scene, where scarhead catches on fire, and then the jump and ship exploding - awesome. Then, the avatardedness of that battle... a human controlling a mech fighting a human controlling a na'vi and a na'vi controlling a big fucking animal.
...A human controlling a na'vi controlling a big fucking bird. Avatardedness. I don't even mean it as an insult!
Here's what gets me - the movie is about living in a virtual world that isn't actually virtual, a commentary on video games and virtual reality in general. However, most of the movie feels like Cameron is just playing a game, indulging in graphics and stale "chosen" scenarios without digging seriously into a conflict or theme. He's just bouncing around, pretty much sidestepping the drama.
Well said, Tom.
I saw it for a second time on Christmas day, and my most significant reaction this time around (other than the CRINGEWORTHY background-info-spewing characters in the first act), was how the human characters, specifically the soldiers, almost looked glossed up, or 'CGIed,' or as you called it, "Avatarded," when interacting with the Na'vi. In other words, instead of trying to make the virtual real, he made the real virtual, effectively bridging the gap between the two in a way that has never really been done before. Cheap, perhaps, but clever.
And yeah, I know exactly what you mean about the Avatardedness. So prevalent.
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