19 December,2009 07:22 AM IST | | Tushar Joshi
Avatar
U/A; Drama
Dir: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang
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What's it about: There are filmmakers and then there is James Cameron. The man still holds the record for delivering the biggest blockbuster of all time -- Titanic. That was 12 years back, but watching Avatar re-establishes Cameron's ingenuity reminding us why he's still 'king of the world'.
Based in 2154, this futuristic tale is set in Pandora -- a giant moon that holds the largest deposit of rich minerals which are the biggest fortune known to mankind. Jake Sully (Worthington) is a paraplegic marine officer brought in to enter Pandora and interact with the inhabitants, the Na'vi. Giving up his human body, Sully takes on a new Avatar and becomes one of the Na'vi intercepting their tribe. During his stay he meets Neyitri (Saldana) daughter of the chieftain who saves his life and eventually falls in love with him. Initially a mole in their camp, Sully changes heart when he finds that Col Miles Quaritch (Lang) is out to destroy Pandora wiping out any trace of their civilization. Along with Grace (Weaver) and a few others, he creates his own army to try and save not just a diminishing tribe but the entire world.
What's hot: Let's get this clear; to experience Avatar you HAVE to watch it in 3D. It's not going to be the same otherwise. Clearly this isn't the first time a studio has put in a lot of hard work for 3D, but Cameron takes the game to a totally new level. He does what Peter Jackson did a few years back with the Lord of the Rings trilogy -- using the million dollar budget smartly and tactfully to create a visual spectacle never seen before! As you put on your glasses and get sucked into a world of new colours, dimensions and landscapes you forget you are watching a 3D film. Cameron's wizardry puts you right in the middle of the action. Avatar is no Transformers -- it isn't gimmicky, it doesn't indulge in showing off the fireworks without having a story to tell. In fact, after the SFX and the mind-boggling effects, the film's strongest pillar is its script and characters that beautifully co-exist without jarring. Paying attention to the minutest detail -- the flutter of a butterfly's wing, or the fluorescence emitting from the soil at night, each frame is a visual delight you can feast on. Just like Tolkien created a whole new race and language with LOTR, likewise Cameron builds everything from scratch. The Na'vi tribe and their vulnerability is a contrast to the human's greed and lust for money. Without getting preachy or cocky, the film touches on a lot of burning issues -- global warming, extinction of flora and fauna, destruction that war brings and conservation of ecology.u00a0 Sam Worthington does a stellar job both in his human and Na'vi avatar.
What's not: To say that Avatar is perfect would be a huge mistake, yet the imperfections too have their own standing in this tale. The characters are totally one dimensional and flawed. There's the human who turns into a super hero, the bad guy who just won't die, the nasty bossy woman who turns softie just in time for the climax, or the Na'vi tribe who despite their elevated senses and intuition don't see the oncoming doom. Also the dialogues get corny and flat at some really important junctions. The "I see you" line loses its charm quite early on. Leona Lewis's theme song fails to recreate the My Heart Will Go On magic.
What to do: A milestone in movie-making, Avatar is a wakeup call for the Michael Bays and Roland Emmerichs of the world whose "let's blow up 200 million on SFX" strategy won't work anymore. Cameron's effects and technology is way ahead of our times, hopefully paving way for other filmmakers to follow suit. Have no second thoughts, Avatar is the ticket to buy this weekend!
