Movie Review: Avatar

Avatar is the kind of movie that you go to for the experience rather than the story. The movie lasting for 161 minutes or almost 3 hours shouldn't have been able to hold your attention for that long with such a weak story but somehow it does. The movie progresses well and you won't be looking at your clock at any time during the movie. This just shows the strength of James Cameron's storytelling and how it is more important how the story is told rather than the story itself.

It also helps that the CGI is amazing. I found myself looking at the backgrounds and the details of the film very often throughout the film. Very few films immerse you that far with their realism. From the beginning to end of the film, you can't tell where the CGI starts and ends which is a great accomplishment by James Cameron, managing to blend the CGI and live action in such a way that neither detracts from each other.

Avatar follows the story of Jake Sully played Sam Worthington from the Terminator Salvation movie. Jake Sully is a paraplegic former marine who is commissioned to replace his murdered twin brother as an Avatar operator. Avatars are human-Na'vi hybrid bodies controlled by human operators which are genetically matched with them. However he gets lost in the jungle on his first mission and is saved by a female Na'vi Neytiri played by Zoe Saldana.I felt their relationship was one of the most interesting and entertaining of the movie as Jake learns about the people and their way of life.

Both actors delivered strong performances giving you a very real sense of their character development throughout the movie. Sam Worthington in particular delivers a believable performance as a normal person who becomes the leader who will change the world. The other actors were by no means overshadowed by his performance though; neytiri is both believable and interesting. Sigourney Weaver also delivers a good performance as Dr. Grace Augustine as you can easily understand what drives her and her motivations and feel for her throughout the movie. However the best character I have to say is the antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch played by Stephen Lang, he plays his character with conviction and you can't help but to love to hate the character as he commands his soldiers.

Although the movie focuses on emotion and the telling of the story, there is no shortage of action in the movie. From Jake Sully escaping from giant creatures to the large scale battles at the end of the movie. With the amount of detail put into the action scenes, it will definitely appeal to action fans. Even if it doesn't, the effects will.

The story progresses well with something for everyone. Including a light hearted adventure story for the first part of the movie to the desperate action at the end of the movie. All this is greatly enhanced if you watch it in 3D which is subtle but extremely effective giving a great sense of atmosphere to the movie.

In conclusion, there are some parts you could pick on if you focused on its weaknesses but its strengths more than make up for it, pulling you in and making you forget about everything except Pandora till the movie is over. It should definitely be watched on the cinema, preferably in 3D to fully appreciate the world and the effects.