Avatar: Blue My Mind

The other night on TCM I caught a two hour documentary on the larger than life hollywood epic Gone With the Wind. Most of the documentary revealed that producer David O. Selznick was seen by many as totally insane. He spent years writing and rewriting the script, holding numerous and costly auditions for the perfect cast, went through several different directors, and spent hours upon hours piecing his masterpiece together in the editing room. News reports quickly noted that the film could literally play in every single theatre across the country, and with a then whopping $3 million budget still didn't have a chance in hell of becoming anything more than a flop. It went on to become one of the highest grossing films of all time. Selznick's impossible project became a lesson that taught filmmakers that crazy and stupid are not quite the same thing. Being a perfectionist pays off.

I bring this up because much of the same has already been said about James Cameron's latest project Avatar. This is nothing new to the director having previously bet the bank on past projects like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Titanic. Remember how those turned out? Now that I have seen this wondrously visual opus I can't quite say if it is going to get all of that money back, but I certainly can say that for the most part it was well spent.

Avatar tells the story of a disabled Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington). Jake and his brother were brought to the distant planet of Pandora. This is a very hostile jungle planet that houses numerous alien beasts, exotic plant life, and a blue Native American-like race of creatures called the Na'vi. Jake was originally just a tag along, but after his brother is killed he must step into the spotlight as a replacement. A team of scientists led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) have found a way to mesh human and Na'vi DNA. The team also has numerous VR devices that somehow manages to transfer all thought, strength, and life into an being called an Avatar. An alien version of yourself.

This is all part of a trust process. The military led by the scarred and hardened Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and the money hungry industrialist Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) want to use Jake's avatar as a way of infiltrating the natives in order to drive them from their home so they can mine a precious new mineral.

Even with a three hour running time I'm afraid I might have revealed a bit too much already. This may be one of the few things that keeps Avatar from being a masterpiece. It really is short on plot and surprises rendering it incredibly predictable. If you have seen the longer more explanatory trailer then I hate to tell you that you know the entire story already. I also must admit that the avatar versions of the Na'vi didn't look that amazing (I still cringe thinking of Sigourney Weaver's). Despite all of the time and money spent, certain people who have mentioned it are correct to assume that Cameron has not yet crossed the uncanny valley.

Everything else about the film remains an outstanding visual achievement. The shocking neon colors of blue and green are absolutely dazzling. The trees and scenery seem come to life and respond at night. The way the military hardware fires tracer rounds into the audience. This is the kind of film that was meant to be seen on the big screen and especially in 3D.

It was also pretty fun to match up scenes, moments, or trademarks in this film that were used in some of Camreon's previous pictures. The way the radar picks up a massive signal dead ahead as a marine shouts out "movement!" was used in Aliens. A character ends up dangling off of a missile in a similar fashion to True Lies. And notice how much the control center base in this movie resembles that of the one topside in The Abyss.

In the end James Cameron's Avatar might not be the best film of the year, the story might have been a bit stale at this point, and only time will tell if it generates enough appeal to become a major blockbuster. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." I say see it. A-