Avatar

It has been 12 years since James Cameron pronounced himself “king of the world”, following on from the inexplicable critical and commercial success of Titanic, and in that time the director of the Terminator films, Aliens, The Abyss and True Lies has been very quiet, a couple of documentary films aside. But now, after an investment of several years and hundreds of millions of dollars, Cameron has finally unveiled his latest effort, a 3D sci-fi epic by the name of Avatar. And all the main characters are blue.

The plot revolves around Jake Sully, a paralysed marine given the opportunity to act as a “driver” for a genetically engineered alien body, as part of a diplomatic mission to improve relations between humans and the Na’vi, the indigenous alien race of the planet Pandora. Pandora boasts large supplies of a highly valuable mineral and the Na’vi are merely seen as an obstacle by the human corporate machine and their military security forces. Initially sent in as a spy, Sully finds himself integrated into the Na’vi culture and ultimately begins to question which side he should be fighting for…

Let’s get a few things out of the way: Is Avatar a revolutionary, groundbreaking achievement in cinema? No. Is the story original or emotionally involving? Not really – it can be effectively summed up as Dances With Wolves meets Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. Is the epic length (162 minutes) justified? No – at least 20 minutes could easily be shaved from the running time. Does it deserve a Best Picture Oscar nomination? No. Should you see it? Absolutely yes – and on as large a screen as possible.

The fact is, Avatar is a visually stunning film, featuring the most impressive visual effects work I have ever seen. It’s not perfect – occasionally the CGI Na’vi characters weren’t quite truly photo-realistic – but the environments, especially the rainforest, are completely convincing. The action, as you’d expect from James Cameron, is genuinely thrilling and the extended battle in the final half hour goes some way to justifying the wait through the sluggish middle act. The acting is better than you’d expect and although the dialogue is sometimes a bit clunky, it’s not exactly detracting from the world’s greatest story anyway. Speaking of which, despite the lack of originality it’s still entertaining – that said, there is one moment towards the end which caused me to roll my eyes quite severely, and I never felt that connected to any of the characters.

Anyone who’s read my earlier reviews of 3D films will know that I’m not a fan of the technology. Avatar features quite easily the best 3D I’ve seen thus far – aside from some issues in an early chase sequence, I didn’t have any problems with blurry motion, ghosting or headaches. Despite this, I still don’t believe that it makes Avatar a better film. I haven’t yet seen the film in 2D but I suspect my enjoyment will be undiminished when I do. Perhaps the IMAX 3D version would be more immersive?

In summary, while this may not be the landmark achievement in cinema that James Cameron would like it to be, Avatar is nonetheless an enjoyable cinematic experience that reminds you why it’s worth spending the time and money to see movies on the big screen.

VERDICT: Definitely see it – just don’t believe all the hype.

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Review Backlog

So, the inevitable happened and I left my blog sitting dormant for several months again, building up a rather large backlog of films to review in the process. Time for another quick summary then...

The Hurt Locker

As you’d expect from a film following the exploits of a bomb disposal squad in Iraq, there is an incredible sense of tension throughout this fantastically-directed and well-acted drama. It was refreshing to see an Iraq war movie with an almost complete absence of politics.

VERDICT: Not quite the masterpiece the critics claim it to be, but excellent nonetheless.

Dorian Gray

Although well-made and well-acted, this adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel misses the point somewhat by using an overload of CGI and sound effects in an attempt to make the painting “scary”, eliminating any creepiness of feeling or dread in the process.

VERDICT: There’s nothing really wrong with it as such but it’s fairly forgettable.

Surrogates

Think I, Robot but without as much depth or style. An interesting concept is squandered somewhat by workmanlike direction and uninspiring action.

VERDICT: Passable entertainment but not much more.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I honestly don’t know who this is aimed at, as it is essentially your typical Wes Anderson film, albeit derived from one of Roald Dahl’s simpler children’s stories and made in a crude and off-putting animation style. In the end I don’t think it’s really suitable for anyone. The number of awards this is winning mystifies me.

VERDICT: Bizarre and not in a good way. Skip it.

Up (3D)

An excellent and emotional opening ten minutes unfortunately is followed by one of Pixar’s weakest, and silliest, films to date. Yes, it’s a cartoon, but Pixar has proved in the past that such films can be far more complex and original than the Saturday-morning style antics on display here. The 3D added almost literally nothing.

VERDICT: It’s still good but for Pixar it’s pretty average.

An Education

Excellent acting elevates what is otherwise a rather unoriginal and uninteresting plot. Carey Mulligan in particular will be well-deserving of her inevitable Oscar nomination, and stands a good shot at perhaps even winning.

VERDICT: It’s good but nothing special.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

This is your typical Terry Gilliam film: interesting ideas, visually very creative, but otherwise a complete mess, lacking in anything approaching a likable character and ultimately a bit of a waste of time.

VERDICT: Not impressed. Don’t bother.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

The vaguely-true story of CIA psychic spies with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey all in comedy mode should really have been a lot better than this. In all honesty it was actually a bit dull and trying too hard to be “quirky”.

VERDICT: Mildly entertaining but that’s it. Not worth going out of your way to see it.

2012

There are about 15 minutes of absolutely spectacular chaos and destruction in 2012. Sadly the film lasts for 150 minutes and the rest of the running time is taken up with lame, predictable plot, poor dialogue and worse acting.

VERDICT: Literally almost all the action is in the trailer, so stick to that instead.

Paranormal Activity

Not being much of a fan of horror and generally being quite hard to scare, I have to admit that this was genuinely quite creepy at times. It is very slow and the plot is dependent on the main characters being, well, a bit stupid, but it’s a very impressive exercise in no-budget film making. I especially liked how underplayed many of the set-pieces are, and who’d have thought that time-lapse camera recording could be so disturbing?

VERDICT: Worth seeing, especially if you’re a horror fan.

A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers’ latest film is a return to their earlier style, i.e. extremely eccentric and not even vaguely mainstream. Apparently it’s a reworking of the biblical story of Job, but most of that was lost on me, as were a lot of the Jewish cultural references. The opening scene seems to belong to a different movie and the ending seems to have disappeared entirely…

VERDICT: I kind of liked it but I’m not entirely sure why. Worth seeing.

A Christmas Carol (3D)

A complete waste of time. If you’re going to make yet another version of Dickens’ story then you should at least do something vaguely original with it aside from making it in motion-captured CGI and adding a couple of dull action sequences. The 3D was better than usual but still didn’t add much.

VERDICT: Boring. Don’t bother.

The Box

Richard Kelly’s third film has much in common with his much-loved debut Donnie Darko – an intriguing, unusual premise; a pervading sense of weirdness; a tendency for isolated scenes of bizarre occurrences that leave you asking yourself “What the…?”. Sadly it does not share Darko’s charm or entertainment value and is probably a bit too dark and depressing for its own good.

VERDICT: Interesting but ultimately a bit disappointing.

I intend to write a full review for Avatar soon, so watch this space... but perhaps don't hold your breath.

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