Avatar Movie Review

Avatar (2009)

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Written by: James Cameron
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michell Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is home.

Verdict
Avatar is little more than a tech demonstration. While it was a commercial success on a grand scale, it's lasting imprint on pop culture is how irrelevant it's become. People flocked to the box office just to see the leap in technology, but technology advances rapidly. The story has a few gaps in logic. This movie is action and visuals first, and really only.
Skip it.

Review
Sequels have been rumored since this came out, but Jim Cameron is currently working on Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5. Cameron wrote the screenplay in the mid 90s, knowing he'd have to wait for technology to advance before creating the movie. The budget was big due to Cameron's box office success. The movie has it's own language.

Sam Worthington plays Jake.

Upon release this movie was huge, everyone was going to see it and it set numerous box office records. It was Cameron's first movie since, Titanic, which also was a blockbuster.

This is an action movie first and foremost. The story ignores basic questions and avoids any kind of in-depth character development. This is a simple hero story where paraplegic Marine Jake (Sam Worthington) gets sent to a moon where he can link to a physical avatar and interact with an alien race.

Jake has no training whatsoever, which would seem like a problem since controlling an avatar requires rigorous training and he's replacing a scientist. Surprisingly Jake has no problems with anything. He's able to infiltrate the aliens where no one else could. That's the kind of movie this is. Jake and the scientists are trying to study the Na'vi alien race. They're also trying to convince them to leave their habitat so the human can mine unobtanium which seems like a conflict of interest. At a few points I wondered if this was an allegory. Humans find a new land and want to remove the original inhabitants for greed and personal gain. Is this a repudiation of the human tendency to invade, take resources, and leave the original inhabitants in ruins? No, this movie just isn't that deep.

Creating an avatar to look like the aliens is a neat idea, but there's no information as to how that works. How is it controlled remotely? Is this some kind of advanced Bluetooth?
Jake can walk again as the avatar. You'd think that would be a real mind bender and create stress for Jake when he's back to being human. Like most thing in the movie, emotional turmoil isn't an issue.

CGI is the draw of this movie. This is a fantastical world with intriguing animals and plants. When this released that aspect was amazing. CGI had never accomplished something like this. Watching the movie now, you wouldn't know why it was so special. That's the problem with technology, it keeps advancing.

The tension derives not only from the science base on the planet, but there's also a military faction who want to murder the aliens. I don't know why a company would go to the trouble to send the military and scientists. Maybe the military are there for protection or the scientists are a cover to the true intentions, but it seems pretty clear the intention was to steal the unobtanium no matter the cost.
While the military is portrayed as the enemy, the entire process is at fault. The prospect of money is what brought not only the military but the scientists too. There's a bureaucrat present to play the greedy corporate type, but everyone is at fault. At best the scientists are a veil for the impending xenocide planned from the start.

It's easy to see where this movie is going. Jake infiltrates the Na'vi, but then embraces their culture. They find out his ruse and reject him, but his commitment to fight for them wins them over. An outsider is the chosen one to save the Na'vi. That seems a bit self serving. Jake is outraged at the plans for the Na'vi, but he's part of the system.

Primitive nations should give in to advanced nations according to the powers in charge here. Jake doesn't reconcile that or his part in this, but again this movie is meant to entertain not explore difficult morality. I wish the movie took bold chances with the story. I wish it explained how mountains float. Why are none of the pilots wearing masks during the final battle while piloting open air choppers? I didn't even know there were other Na'vi tribes until the plot demanded it.
It's clear Cameron had reign to do whatever he wanted. His goal was to take a technological leap forward and that's clear. The plot is just a combination of sci-fi hero stories to support the visuals. The movie does look better in motion than with stills.

The last hour starts to drag as this is the typical trope of rallying everyone for the final battle. This movie's lasting legacy is the technical achievements and the theme park at Disney World.