James Cameron's "Avatar" a must-see
Jennifer Gregory
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Entertainment
Avatar ***** (5/5)
James Cameron is, without a doubt, an absolute genius. No, he hasn't found a cure for the common cold nor has he built a solar cell that could power the entire planet, but he knows how to produce one heck of a movie. His latest creation, "Avatar", is now the highest grossing movie of all time, with $1.86 billion, beating "Titanic."
Get this: He beat his own record. Yep, that's right! Cameron is the mastermind behind both "Titanic" and "Avatar," two totally different movies, but still monumental money magnets.
"Avatar," without a doubt, completely blew my mind. It also blew my eyeballs out of their sockets (3-D is absolutely gorgeous).
The movie follows paraplegic, ex-marine, Jake Sully, to the distant planet of Pandora, where he aids a private mining company in their endeavors to rob Pandora of its natural resources. He is given the responsibility of controlling his slain twin brother's avatar, a genetically-engineered being that is composed of human DNA and the DNA of the Na'vi, the ten-foot-tall, blue humanoids that inhabit Pandora.
During one of his early expeditions with researchers Grace Augustine and Norm Spellman, Jake becomes separated from the group and must fend for himself in the hostile Pandoran forest. He is rescued from Neytiri, a Na'vi princess who, after seeing signs from the goddess, Eywa, brings Jake to the tribe and convinces the leader to let Jake learn how to live like the Na'vi.
When Colonel Miles Quaritch learns that Jake is becoming so close with the Na'vi, he instructs him to bring back a detailed description of their main village, the Home Tree, as well as convince the Na'vi to relocate before the humans resort to force to obtain the valuable ore underneath their village. As an incentive for completing the task, he promises Jake that he will have his legs fixed if he obtains the needed information in a timely manner.
As Jake learns more about the Na'vi and the secrets of Pandora, he feels his loyalty shifting sides. The Na'vi have become his people and Pandora his home. When Colonel Quaritch moves in to annihilate the Na'vi, Jake is forced to choose between his wheelchair-bound body and his new life as a native of Pandora.
The storyline was full of depth but extremely easy to follow without being predictable.
The movie itself is a mixture of live-action and computer-generated effects and animations that seamlessly flow together, blurring the lines between live and computer-animated. The only slight problem was the 2 hour and 40 minute length, which seemed just a tad too long. However, the ending definitely makes up for the slight antsy feeling you may have whilst watching the final, climactic battle scenes between the humans and the Na'vi.
James Cameron is, without a doubt, an absolute genius. No, he hasn't found a cure for the common cold nor has he built a solar cell that could power the entire planet, but he knows how to produce one heck of a movie. His latest creation, "Avatar", is now the highest grossing movie of all time, with $1.86 billion, beating "Titanic."
Get this: He beat his own record. Yep, that's right! Cameron is the mastermind behind both "Titanic" and "Avatar," two totally different movies, but still monumental money magnets.
"Avatar," without a doubt, completely blew my mind. It also blew my eyeballs out of their sockets (3-D is absolutely gorgeous).
The movie follows paraplegic, ex-marine, Jake Sully, to the distant planet of Pandora, where he aids a private mining company in their endeavors to rob Pandora of its natural resources. He is given the responsibility of controlling his slain twin brother's avatar, a genetically-engineered being that is composed of human DNA and the DNA of the Na'vi, the ten-foot-tall, blue humanoids that inhabit Pandora.
During one of his early expeditions with researchers Grace Augustine and Norm Spellman, Jake becomes separated from the group and must fend for himself in the hostile Pandoran forest. He is rescued from Neytiri, a Na'vi princess who, after seeing signs from the goddess, Eywa, brings Jake to the tribe and convinces the leader to let Jake learn how to live like the Na'vi.
When Colonel Miles Quaritch learns that Jake is becoming so close with the Na'vi, he instructs him to bring back a detailed description of their main village, the Home Tree, as well as convince the Na'vi to relocate before the humans resort to force to obtain the valuable ore underneath their village. As an incentive for completing the task, he promises Jake that he will have his legs fixed if he obtains the needed information in a timely manner.
As Jake learns more about the Na'vi and the secrets of Pandora, he feels his loyalty shifting sides. The Na'vi have become his people and Pandora his home. When Colonel Quaritch moves in to annihilate the Na'vi, Jake is forced to choose between his wheelchair-bound body and his new life as a native of Pandora.
The storyline was full of depth but extremely easy to follow without being predictable.
The movie itself is a mixture of live-action and computer-generated effects and animations that seamlessly flow together, blurring the lines between live and computer-animated. The only slight problem was the 2 hour and 40 minute length, which seemed just a tad too long. However, the ending definitely makes up for the slight antsy feeling you may have whilst watching the final, climactic battle scenes between the humans and the Na'vi.
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