Avatar

Last weekend my wife and I splurged with some of our Christmas money, finding out what all the hype is about, and ventured to see Avatar.

James Cameron, director, producer and/or writer of several box office monster movies such as Terminators 1, 2, and 3, Titanic, True Lies and Aliens, adds another hit to his notable list with the release of Avatar.

Capitalizing on the full extent of CGI capabilities, Avatar is visually pleasing and everything it's cracked up to be. Most of what is seen on screen is generated by computers which explains the films extended time spent in production. In the US Avatar took in 73 million opening weekend which puts in it 2nd place for a film released in December (I Am Legend holds 1st place, 77 million). Oversees it received 159 million which puts it on track to be a good investment considering the 400 million in production and advertising expenses.

Basic Premise: In the future mankind has discovered life on other planets while at the same time laid waste to most of the natural resources (and nature in general) on earth. Precious and lucrative material has been discovered underneath the native village at "Home Tree" which houses humanoid people called the Na'vi on the planet Pandora.

When efforts at diplomacy with the natives fail a group of trigger happy marines sets out to violently drive the natives out by destroying Home Tree itself. However, Jake Sully, a marine has the chance to join a program which allows humans to control the minds of their own genetically engineered and lab-grown Avatar, a replica of the Na'vi people. After learning their ways and falling in love with a native, Jake finds himself standing in between the edgy war ready marines and the Na'vi whom have embraced him as one of their own.

Viewers are taken inside the magical world found on Pandora. A new world and culture was created by the filmmakers which holds intrigue at every turn. Floating mountains, trees that people can communicate with, plants that illumine the night and creatures that bond-mind and spirit-with their rider all serve to fascinate viewers. For the first 90 minutes, Avatar takes you on a wild fascinating ride which picks up momentum and carries the excitement through the rest of the film.

One obvious observation is that the general direction of the plot seemed to mimc the early European Settlers as they began overtaking the Native Americans' land more forcefully at each turn. In short, this plot has been done before. The generall messages of the movie are: nature is all connected and must be conserved, earthling humans naturally destroy nature and white Euro-people are at the root of the problem.

I don't appreciate political messages in adventure movies, but I must say it was not at all a distraction. I must say, Avatar deserved all 8.7 stars given it by IMDB and possibly more. It is by far one of the most simply enjoyable films I've seen in a while.