Avatar

With Kellianne and I having an 8 month old, it has made it a lot harder to go see movies in the theaters. Unfortunately for us we never made it to seeing Avatar on the big screen. This film simply blew me away with the stunning visuals and the amazing cinematography of this world known as Pandora. I can only imagine what the visuals were like if you viewed this movie on an IMAX screen. Everything detail in this movie seemed to be flawlessly looked over in a way that you forget that most of the visuals are completely computer generated.

For me there were only a few parts of the movie that I disliked or had a hard time with.First off was that of the unobtainium. I mean really, Cameron is creative in creating Pandora and the Na'vi yet is so uncreative with the name of unobtainium. Not to mention the film never fully explains why unobtainium is so valuable to the corporation that is there on Pandora and what is the benefit. Second. the ecological agenda that is thinly veiled throughout the movie. The thoughts that corporations are only in things for money and does not care about what there exploits will do to the land.

Other than the visuals, the film delivers with all the other technical aspects. The Film Editing is the crowning achievement of the film as it offers the perfect blend of the two worlds, enticing the viewer and shifting us around. Mauro Fiore's cinematography is masterful. I felt like I sat down in a chair and was literally placed on Pandora, spaceships and mountains. The viewer is completely engulfed by the imagery that it gives you a feeling that you could actually smell the leaves on the trees. James Horner delivers an amazing score that helps to life the material immensely.

Relative newcomer, Aussie Sam Worthington provides a solid human heart amongst all the science-fiction/fantasy beauty but there are moments where he struggles with his Aussie accent and Zoe Saldana gives an impressive performance as the 8 foot tall Na'vi, Neytiri. Even though the characters they both play are blue, giant, catlike aliens, they managed to evoke a chemistry and likability that pierces through the special effects.

Stephen Lang, as the rock hard Colonel Miles, takes being a villain to a whole new level for science fiction. He offers such emotion and shows that all he cares about is getting the Na'vi out of the way as quick as possible gains the audiences hatred rather quickly. Sigourney Weaver lives inside her role with effortless ease, but she falls victim to Cameron's curse of cheesy lines a couple of times. Even with these strong performances the character development is shallow and left me wanting to know more about what shaped the characters feelings and also especially with the Na'vi why they were not getting along with the humans (Sky People).

Avatar is a beautiful piece of film and a true event. It does exactly what cinema was always intended to - it takes us away from our problems and worries for a few hours and gives us memorable images. This is one of the best films I have ever seen because the visuals are unmatched in any film I have ever seen. Cameron has set the bar and it is up to other visionary directors to step up to the new bar that has been set.

Cameron though in trying to invoke emotion to us has a flaw. To me it was interesting to notice that in trying to show the desperation of the people of Na'vi the ships windshields were inpenetrable to the arrows but then moments later in the final battle the arrows go right through the windshields as they show us the courageous nature of the Na'vi. Yet he successfully allowed me to over look this flaw with the final machine vs. avatar fight. The greatest part of this fight was that Cameron actually allowed us to SEE the fight. By moving the cameras out a little we could see what was actually happening unlike the current trend for fight sequences that nearly gives you a headache.

I am giving Avatar four and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. I am hoping that we will see a special edition re-released into the theaters sometime so I can go and experience Pandora with a full IMAX experience. Cameron definitely has shown that he is back and is a visionary director that will hopefully continue to push imagery in films for audience experiences.

-The Movie Man-