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Avatar has been hyped for months or maybe even years seeing as there were speculations of new effects that will supposedly take us into a world where we had not been before and where we would feel like we're there. Also, it is James Cameron's first feature length film since Titanic in 1997 and that became a giant success both critically and box office takings. Plus that was the biggest blockbuster of all time so expectations were exceedingly high for Avatar to possibly repeat history or maybe even surpass Titanic. Guess what? It was certainly worth the 12 year wait and most certainly surpassed Titanic with the effects, the realism and the box-office takings but to be perfectly honest, for me it didn't quite with some acting and screenwriting.
The effects in Avatar are obviously mind-blowing and out of this world and no wonder it took two years to complete after filming and despite that it does get a strong 5-stars, I have to go ahead and name the flaws within Avatar so here goes. We never really knew what the plot was until we saw it but now after watching it, the story takes a lot from Pocahontas and Dances With Wolves so it's almost a sci-fi mixture between them two and I thought that the script was a bit cheesy at times. Despite those flaws, I do admit that the film blew me away and I was stuck in Pandora for 162 minutes and loved every second of my adventure. The 3D experience was obviously outstanding but I think it was suitably released for the Avatar experience to be almost like real but after Avatar's release, there are more films released in 3D that quite frankly don't even need to be so 3D has become rather overhyped now in just under a year.
When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers Intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.
Sam Worthington already made his mark in the same year with his appearance in Terminator Salvation alongside Christian Bale, Bryce Dallas Howard, Helena Bonham Carter and others but he stars in another blockbuster but in perhaps the blockbuster of blockbusters. I liked his performance as Jake Sully but there were some (but not loads) moments where his acting felt soulless and cheesy but Sam did suit Avatar and I could feel the strong love between Jake and Neytiri. Zoe Saldana was incredible as Neytiri! I think what was so extraordinary about her was that despite she is a massive blue creature, you can't help but find her attractive and damn near fall in love with her as you watch it. She had more of a chance of an Oscar nomination than Sam Worthington did but I don't think she deserved it as much as any of the other actresses who were nominated. Sigourney Weaver returns in a James Cameron film and in a huge way. I think her performance was the best from all of the actors in this film and I think she should have been nominated for an Oscar. She was previously in Aliens that was directed by James Cameron and it was great to see her return in a James Cameron film once again. Stephen Lang was good as Colonel Quaritch but I find him too similar to Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas. They are both greedy, possessive and are desperate for power no matter the consequences.
James Cameron, you may be a director of science-fiction, taking pride on expanding on the audience's imagination and creating or extending science-fiction franchises. Avatar may be his most successful film but I do still prefer both Aliens and Titanic. The development of Avatar began in 1994 and Cameron wrote the script from January-April 2006 so the planning took 12 years but the filming and post-production lasted almost 3 years and after seeing the film with the effects, art direction and cinematography, no wonder it took so long to make and prepare but it damn sure was worth it. Cameron did deserve the Oscar Best Director nomination but wouldn't have deserved to win just like the film itself probably only would have deserved Best Picture for the effects blowing away the audience. James Cameron, you may be an amazing director, producer and editor but I have to admit you can't write film screenplays that well. One thing that was quite annoying in Avatar was when there was swearing involved. I mean, yeah everyone swears but it is set in a world over 100 years into the future and on a few occasions, it was sometimes like it was Sam in the film, not Jake Sully. So there were some cheesy moments in the script.
Overall, Avatar is a visual masterpiece that blew me away despite its flaws. Watching Avatar at the cinema in 3D and/or on blu-ray on a big flat-screen TV is perhaps the ultimate film experience. James Cameron has created something that I would call a landmark for its effects but it isn't his best film for me. It is one of the best films of 2009 and the fact it was released in the last month of the last year in the noughties, it showed that times are going to change so who knows what film will blow us away in the next 10-20 years. I can't wait for 2014 and 2015 when the two Avatar sequels are released so we can see Jake and Neytiri return and enter the world of Pandora in 3D on two more occasions.
