Movie Review #26 Avatar

Avatar (2009) Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana Directed by James Cameron

As far as big blockbuster events in the movies tend to go…this one hits a good chord. I normally kill films that are full of all special effects and offer no substance, or bad substance (pay attention Transformers). Almost nothing makes me happier than pointing out plot points in films that make no sense, (remember when that kid had a piece of the cube in his pocket the whole time in Transformers 2, and that piece could bring robots to life, like it did with that Stealth bomber dude, why didn’t the kid just use that to wake up Optimus Prime instead of going to Egypt to get the matrix…hmm) anyway this film has its share, but just few enough that I’m fine with it. Like Star Trek (the highest ranked, on my list this year in the blockbuster department) it is fun enough that when things like (um twin brother?…Hollywood loves twin brothers) pop up, you live with it and move on.
Avatar is the story of Jake Sully (like the guy who crash landed in the Hudson?) a wounded paraplegic Marine who is thrust into a high tech government program (the Avatar program) because he shares the same DNA as his twin brother who has died unexpectedly (they really don’t go into this that much). So with no training or scientific knowledge whatsoever this Jarhead takes over this Avatar body that is made in the likeness of the native Na’vi people, who live on top of a rare mineral that humans want to mine. His mission is two-fold: 1- create a diplomatic way for these people to move out of the land so the humans can get that mineral 2- report back to the evil Colonel Quaritch (played well enough by Stephan Lang…who was better in The Men Who Stare at Goats ) so that if diplomacy fails, they can gather intelligence on how to kill or force these people out. Jake performs this task very well; as he is right away accepted into the tribe and taught the ways of the people (again they don’t really go into why this would happen either). While there, he falls in love with Neytiri (play by the wonderful Zoe Saldana), and begins to sympathize with the people. Ultimately it all comes to a blow when the people refuse to leave and Jake must make a choice. The story is good enough, and the only fault is that with a 240 minute runtime you think there was enough time to patch up a few plot holes, but again I was entertained enough so..I'll live with it. I saw it in 3D which is a first for me, and though it did give me a headache, and I had to do the one-eyed pirate a few times, it was indeed great to look at. The undertone of the film also makes the movie more attractive, it is very much politically active in its message. You should see this film, and you must see it in a theater…3D or not. 500 million dollars (the reported budget) isn’t going to get Avatar an Oscar, but it should get it plenty of box office (250 million and counting domestically). I recommend it; it is indeed a solid blockbuster.

(The Shawshank Scale 1-10) The right message, very cool special effects, and some hot blue people are enough to warrant a very good 7.0 on the scale. It is definitely a great popcorn film, though it is just short of making my top ten of the year list.

Food For Thought: Listen caramel and coffee go together very well…just add caramel to any coffee or espresso drinks that you make and it works! Sam Worthington, who I was happy to find out was older than me, though yes still better looking, takes on Clash of the Titans next year. Up next for Zoe Saldana is bank heist movie with Hayden Christensen and Paul Walker called Takers, and of course Star Trek 2. It looks like James Cameron is back to work sooner this time with a cyborg film called Battle Angel and he is also rumored to be writing Terminator 5…hmm.