Bryan's Movie Review -- Avatar ****

Let's just say it: James Cameron is a god among filmmakers. I don't know whether the fact that he apparently only makes one or so movies every decade should be cause for grief or celebration. In world where "event" films too often end up being overblown crapfests lacking anything resembling detail or story, James Cameron has consistently proven that a movie can be big without being horrible and that an audience shouldn't have to sacrifice quality if all they want is to be entertained.

Let's get one thing straight, Avatar is not a cerebral movie. It's not deep. Sure, it has messages -- maybe even an agenda -- but they aren't hidden in the subtext. No one is going into movie chat rooms and forums this weekend to figure out what the whole thing was supposed to be about. Instead, most of the people who have seen this movie are talking about just how frickin' cool it was. And, unlike the recent movies involving transforming robots or effeminate teenage vampires, they're not having to throw out caveats like "Sure, it was really stupid...but, it was entertaining."

As one who's said that a lot over the years, the Avatar experience is refreshing.

So, the story... As I'm sure most of you have gathered, Avatar is set in a future wherein mankind is trying to mine a priceless mineral called "unobtainium" from a distant planet called Pandora. This planet is inhabited by a tribal race of intelligent beings called the Nav'i. However, because the air on Pandora is not breathable by humans, they've crossed human and Nav'i DNA to create bodies -- avatars -- that can be remotely controlled by the mind of a human. Jake Sully, the film's hero, played by Aussie Sam Worthington, is a crippled marine who takes the assignment of inhabiting an avatar in order to infiltrate the Nav'i.

The results are predictable. He meets up with a hot female Nav'i, gains an understanding of their ways and culture, and decides that he doesn't want to assist in their destruction and exploitation. Conflict ensues. Most of the plot turns are obvious and telegraphed a mile away. But, that doesn't really matter because, in the end, it's how the movie gets there that's important.

There are obvious similiarities between the story behind Avatar the movie and Cameron's last film, Titanic. Both came with huge budgets -- the production of Avatar alone (marketing not included) is reported to be in the $350 million range. Both were met with skepticism in the months leading up to their release. Honestly, you had to be a tad worried (even if you pretended not to be) after the first Avatar trailer went up on the internet. Yet, both movies proved to be money well spent. Every dollar of Avatar's budget is right their up on the screen. The world of Pandora is immensly detailed -- from the lush atmosphere to the far off moons and planets shown in the distance. The creatures living on the planet's surface, including the Nav'i and a literal army of animals and monsters, look almost photorealistic without being too creepy. Most of them look like nothing anyone has ever seen before -- and that's a good thing. Indeed, almost every scene -- if not every shot -- contains a new discovery for the audience.

Yet, with all this technical wizardry, Cameron doesn't skimp on the characters or the story. Sure, most of the characters are stereotypes and, like I said, the story is admittedly derivative. It ain't Shakespeare, to be sure. But, the script and characterization are done well enough that the audience is able to actually care about what happens next as opposed to just waiting for the next explosion. I hope Michael Bay was taking notes when he saw it.

Now, one thing I've heard, particularly from those who share my same conservative political leanings, is that Avatar has a political agenda. This is 100% true. The movie is anti-war. But, guess what, even those of us who support the current U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq should admit that war is a bad thing and, apart from a couple offhand (and poorly written) lines of dialogue, "war sucks" is more or less the extent of the movie's anti-war message.

There's also a big-time environmental message in the movie. As it turns out, all the creatures of Pandora are connected to the planet and, in some ways, to each other in a literal, physiological sense. For example, the Nav'i can actual physically connect themselves to the animals and trees and share their consciousness with them. Unlike the tree huggers we see on this planet, the Nav'i's connection to their "mother" is not pseudo-spiritual mumbo jumbo, it is real. That's an actual point of the plot. So, if Cameron was trying to say that the audience should go home and buy hybrids, he kind of did a lousy job. And, in the end, "let's destroy the earth" is a pretty baseline environmental message and not one that should not offend even those of us who drive SUVs and think recycling is a waste of time.

In any event, who cares if the movie has a political agenda? The first question one should ask themselves about a movie is whether it was good or not. And, guess what, folks, Avatar is good. Damn good.

Now, I gave it four stars, but I should say that the film is not perfect. In some minor respects, it is far from it. It is a bit too long (pushing three hours) and a couple of the subplots didn't serve the major narrative. But, what it does do well it does so well that I couldn't justify not giving it the full four-star rating.

This is one of those great-leap-forward moments in cinema and one of the best movies of the year. You don't want to miss it.