‘Avatar,’ the movement picture filmmaker James Cameron has been working on for 4 years and planning for 15, his first movie since 1997s ‘Titanic,’ is indeed a gamechanger. It lifts the bar.
To begin, yes this is the epic visual masterpiece that youve all been waiting for and it succeeds in everything it tries to do (visually).The overall look is stunning beyond belief, the special effects are impeccable, Cameron got me to shed a tear and sit on the edge of my seat BUT the film isnt flawless, not by a long shot
The story is of Jake Sully, performed by Sam Worthington, of the year of 2154 where Jake Sully, a marine, looses his legs in a battle. Jakes twin brother who had to leave for a project on Pandora, a distant moon, dies unexpectedly and the authorities of the mission offer Jake his brothers place as the project requires a DNA match.
The Details: Normally in a film like this, you can see a few mistakes here and there, but I didnt catch any. From Sam Worthingtons tiny legs to the computers within the scenes every detail was thought out and used as a part of the environment. The best thing that Cameron did was allow for all his hard work to be incorporated into the wide shots without saying ‘hey look at this.’
There is a love story brewing between Sams Navi avatar with the Pandora princess (Zo Saldana) and soon he discovers an altogether new world. Literally. He wages a battle of his own with support from a handful of friends from sky people along with tribe members and animals belonging to all shapes and sizes.
Sam Worthingtons Hair: It sounds ridiculous, but this is another detail that really stood out. Normally youll notice that an actor is given a hairstyle that they can have throughout the entire film, but Worthingtons hair changed with every time shift in the movie and it always looked completely natural. Yet again, nice touch.
Its this vivid blurring of the real and the imaginary, the material world and the spiritual, thats at the heart of Camerons movie.
In his peculiar vision of utopia, technology and ecology fuse. On Pandora, electrical currents flow through the root systems of the trees.
Early Footage: Although it was fun to see early footage of the film a few months ago, it screws you over in the long run. The first 45 minutes of the film is all about being in awe of the environment. Its about reacting to everything around you, for the people who have seen the footage the experience isnt fresh and therefore it doesnt carry you as much as it should. For those of you who have abstained from any footage, youll soon be rewarded.