Scream Bloody Entertainment

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” - Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

James Cameron is a visionary. Quite a good one, at that. He is one of the few people in the film industry that can actually turn imagination into reality so flawlessly. For those of you less familiar with him, he is the proud director of movies such as The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic and, more recently, Avatar. You may have heard a lot about Avatar – it’s probably the biggest and most awaited movie at the moment, possibly of the whole year. I, for one, hate movies that are marketed and promoted at such a grand scale and sometimes tend to lower my enthusiasm for such films, because usually they fail to meet my expectations. I admit that I wasn’t really thrilled to see Avatar – blue aliens and flying pieces of earth seem all too cheesy for me, but boy was I wrong about this one…

I didn’t plan on seeing Avatar at the theater and most definitely not in 3D – I rarely get to see movies at the theater since there is none in my hometown. I’m incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to see Avatar in 3D, because now I know that this movie wouldn’t have had the same effect on me if I saw it in any other way. Before I even start getting into the good stuff, I feel like it is my duty to encourage you to go out and see Avatar the way that it’s meant to be seen – at the cinema, with a big and violent surround sound and in 3D.


The movie stars Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a former marine bound to a wheelchair who gets the opportunity to take over his deceased twin brother’s job on Pandora, the lush moon of Polyphemus that is filled with unobtanium, which the humans so desperately seek to exploit. Unable to negociate with the Na’vi (the humanoid aliens inhabiting Pandora), the humans try to infiltrate this alien species by means of avatars, human-Na'vi hybrids that can be controlled by their human owners. Jake Sully is able to control such an avatar, and slowly but surely makes his way through the unexplored and mystical world of Pandora.

Other significant roles include Zoë Saldaña as Neytiri, a princess of one of the Na’vi tribes, who befriends Jake after saving his life in the jungle; Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, a scientist who is less than happy with Jake taking over his brother’s place and Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, one of the main antagonists.


Avatar starts off pretty slow and it can become quite boring in the first few minutes, especially if you were lead on to believe that this is some action-packed movie filled with explosions and insane CGI. It is, but not so early. You may notice, as you’re watching, that Avatar has a certain flow and it’ll keep building up tension and entertainment as it goes along, ultimately exploding into a grand and memorable finale. My advice is to be patient and take each step slowly, even the (apparently) boring stuff are worth it if you’re determined enough to let them in.

The main quality of Avatar is, of course, the imagery. The scenery is stunning, to say the very least, and the CGI… well, the CGI is just out of this world. Everything about Pandora is just fascinating, beautiful and marvelous, from the most insignificant things like trees and small insects to the biggest hills and jungles. It’s really awesome to just be able to witness this spectacle. I’m pretty sure I’ve never ever seen such incredible visuals in my life. Avatar is definitely a unique experience – it’s a movie like no other and you probably won’t get see something like this for a very long time.


The story itself is far from impressive. Unfortunately, James Cameron decided to take it the easy way and just follow the simple rules and typical clichés of modern movies. Even the characters fall under the remorseless domination of Cameron’s script. From the first minutes to the last second, you can pretty much predict what’s going to happen. From the main conflict to the smaller scale events, everything is annoyingly generic. You’ve seen it all before, I can assure you. I did get a few unexpected turns and surprises here and there, but that’s definitely not enough to make up for such a grand movie wasted on such an average script. I don’t necessarily think that the script was bad, but it certainly couldn’t stand up to the other elements of Avatar – thankfully everything else makes up for this weakness and you soon feel obliged to forgive Cameron’s mistake.


The acting is above average and it’s definitely improving the overall feel of the movie. Sam Worthington does a great job as Jake Sully and manages to capture his character’s feeling of indifference and remorse caused by his paralyzed legs. The jewel of Avatar, however, is Zoë Saldaña, or, more accurately, her character Neytiri. We don’t get to see Zoë as herself in the movie, but with the help of modern technology, all of her facial expressions and movements are captured. Neytiri’s character design and overall feel is just incredible – sheer beauty. She is definitely an influential piece in the movie and can have a remarkable impact in some situations. You can tell that a lot of work has been put into creating this character – everything from her eyes to her smile is simply stunning. Neytiri almost feels human, and some will even remain speechless after witness this character’s power on the big screen. Zoë Saldaña certainly contributes to her character, giving her emotional strength and providing the necessary qualities to turn Neytiri from a simple alien to something far beyond that. The rest of the cast did a good job - Sigourney Weaver managed to impress me, even though I felt like her character was rather unnecessary and insignificant to the whole story.

What can I say? I am simply blown away by Avatar. This movie is, indeed, epic, and even though it has its flaws and makes some mistakes, in the end the effect is all the same. James Cameron successfully turns another simple vision into a revolutionary movie. I can’t help but recommend this movie to everyone – for sci-fi fans it’s a definite classic. Avatar is more than a simple movie, it’s more than just a couple of hours – it’s timeless, a gorgeous painting that will capture your attention from the moment you lay your eyes on it.