James Cameron’s Avatar, a review

Props to James Cameron for delivering on his $300 million, two and a half hour long fantasy sci-fi movie, Avatar. The movie, which was released on December 17th and is best seen in 3D, has been described as “Dances with Wolves in Outer Space,” and I may just throw Fern Gully in there too.

First to define Avatar, according to the online dictionary: av·a·tar

1. The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
2. An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
3. A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity.

So basically an Avatar is an additional body produced to host a spirit/likeness/personality/soul, but it is without its own original life force.

Cameron has spent several years co-developing the 3D Fusion Camera technology used in Avatar. The facial capturing system alone took 18 months to perfect. The result was hyper-real. After scenes of  dragon-like animals flying from cliffs, I felt like I was flying on a broomstick with Harry Potter, er I mean, the back of a dragon-like forest creature.

Blogger Jason Calacanis wrote, “Avatar makes a Pixar movie look like an Atari 2600 game.” Others are calling Avatar the “iPhone of movies,” because “it disrupts the entire industry.”

Avatar’s trippy forest scenes reminded me of the LED lit forest at Michigan’s Rothbury Festival. (Pictured below right).

While the plot was generic (the battle of good versus terror and a sexy cross-species love story), the acting and breathtaking imagery kept the audience on the edge of their seats. Cameron worked with USC Professor Paul Frommer to create an entire new language for the Na’vi people. Its more beautiful and melodic than Klingon, but I doubt that Hamlet will ever be translated into Na’vi.

Actor Sam Worthington laudably portrayed James Sully, a handicapped Jarhead who finds himself accepted by the Na’vi people. His boss, a cigarette smoking Chief Scientist, Grace Augustine  is played by Sigourney Weaver, who’s no stranger to alien movies.

The story is set on the dreamy world of Planet Pandora (probably not the Saturn moon), in Human year 2145. Imagine if the Native Americans had been allowed to evolve separate from Western civilization and you will have a good idea of how advanced the Na’vi people are– they have jellyfish like tentacles coming out of their long ponytails to instantly connect with Mother Nature. I just hope that as far as the human species is concerned, that we will have learned enough from our history to not become resource hunting terrorists in the not so distant future.