Avatar, a Mr. E Movie Review
(Run time: 161 min. – Directed by: James Cameron – Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver)
James Cameron’s Avatar is an awesomely engrossing, visually astounding, masterpiece of a motion picture. If you do one thing for yourself see Avatar in digital 3-D and if possible try to see it in IMAX 3-D! After only a few short minutes you will find yourself lost in this one-of-a-kind world.
When Jake Sully’s brother Tony is killed during a robbery Jake, played by Sam Worthington, is asked to replace his twin brother on Pandora as the “driver” of his personally grown “Avatar” of which a lot of time and money has gone into creating and only someone genetically linked to it can operate. His only professional skills are that he was formerly a Marine. Unfortunately he was paralyzed from the waist down while on duty on Earth.
Pandora is one of the moons of a planet called Alpha Centauri A. In 2154, the humans are trying to colonize the moon after finding that it is rich in a mineral called Unobtanium. Standing between the humans and this valuable mineral is the moon’s native people the Na’vi. The Na’vi are creatures that stand 9 feet tall, have tails, and sparkling blue skin. These indigenous people have an almost network-type oneness with Pandora’s other creatures, plants, and even the planet itself.
After traveling over 4 light years Jake arrives on Pandora. He is quickly thrown into his Avatar and taken out into the jungle. Suddenly an accident causes Jake to be lost in the forest and about to be in a danger situation as night falls. That is until Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana, finds and rescue’s him from a wild pack of alien wolf-like animals.
Will Jake follow orders and help the humans get the Unobtanium or will he become engulfed among the Na’vi people? Will the humans greed destroy the natives or will the environment itself not allow for the ravaging of its natural resources?
Everyone is, and will be, talking about the techniques James Cameron created to capture the live action from his actors. The result is CGI that is so right on the money you really believe what your seeing. On top of that, the world and creatures Cameron’s created are so uniquely original that you might find yourself looking to the sky wondering if somewhere out there could they really exist.
Sam Worthington is great as the lead. He has a nice charisma that compliments his wheelchair bound Marine/boundary breaking Avatar character. After the job he did here you might just see a lot of new roles going his way in the near future.
Zoe Saldana has proven herself again. Breaking out of her “Uhura” role and taking her Na’vi character Neytiri to a very realistic and savage level. Zoe is a hot new talent that too is sure to be burning up the big screen for years to come.
Another actress proving herself again is Sigourney Weaver. She has the classic presence of a leading actress that just elevates every scene she’s in. Her supporting role in Avatar, both as an Avatar Na’vi or as the lead scientist, is top shelf. While finally, Stephen Lang’s portrayal of Colonel Miles Quaritch is not only right on the money but everything about him right down to his battle wounds is as militant and warmonger-ish as you can get. And that’s exactly what Cameron was going for!
As a movie going experience Avatar is going to be one of the best time’s you’ve ever had. Just about every sense you have is going to be bombarded with amazement, in a good way. Young and old alike are sure to find themselves enjoying this breakthrough film.
Avatar, as I put in my review, was the best movie ever.
And it was amazing, because it wasn’t just the special effects, but the movie as a whole was flawless besides 1 or 2 acting flaws. That being said, I have been waiting 2 years for it, and I saw it the midnight (Thursday night) before I had a test that would decide if I am going to be a Junior next year (yes, it was that important), and it STILL exceeded my expectations. I almost cried from pure amazement in all fields at least three times during the movie.
Yeah, I was hoping it wasn’t going to be all hype and am glad it wasn’t! It really delivers on all aspects. So, did you pass your test? Or will you be the first victim of the Avatar phenomenon? Lol.
I passed with flying colors because I actually know what bullshit is on the test, but I would rather have been able to see that movie over the time of the test, so, essentially, I would rather be a sophomore next year than miss a chance to see AVATAR.
Dang, I think your officially the #1 Avatar fan! I’ll just be stuck at #3 behind James Cameron.
Lol.
PS. Congrats on the test.
thanks, man. Are you the proprietor of this website, or just a big contributor?
Just a film critic who likes this forum.
are there any other film forums that are free that will get your opinions put out into the public?
Yeah, there are a few. Film Crave, Movie Vine, Rotten Tomatoes, and even the NY Times lets you submit reviews. Check’em out. But in my opinion this one is real good. They automatically submit your reviews to the search engines, your reviews are included in the mass email to subscibers, and the reviewers are put first here. MFR is really cool.
So far I hear only good things about Avatar. A co-worker told me it’s the best movie he’s ever seen (a bold statement!)… and is going to see it again in the theater.
He took his daughters to a 10PM show, arrived 45 minutes before the show and couldn’t get seats! And the line has already formed around the block for the 11PM show.
Thanks for the great review – I guess you can’t go wrong with James Cameron’s movies. I’m definitely taking my wife/kids to see this.
Merry Holidays!
For some reason my rating of this movie keeps dropping off and showing no rating at all. Please make no mistake I have given James Cameron’s Avatar 5 out of 5 stars and for a good reason.
Thanks, Mr. E
Oh, and thanks Godfather! Your comments, in particular, are always appreciated. Much respect.
Mr. E
I saw Avatar in an IMAX in 3-d,was so excited to finally see it.
At the 75 minute mark or therabouts i fell asleep,not from being tired,but through complete boredom,looking round,my fiancee was also ko-d and a few round abut had got up and walked out.
I tried again with the dvd a few months later,but with similar results,as a 3-d experience it is 10/10 but as a movie it is shallow and dull and the creator of aliens and terminator has ridden on his reputation with this one.
Your funny and 75 minutes in on a regular movie would’ve only left you with 15 minutes and the point were it all was wrapping up. But with this one at 161 minutes you weren’t even half way there!
When I first saw it I was attending a pre-screening at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. I was engulfed in the atmosphere of it all and a packed theater of very enthusiastic movie-buffs. So maybe at first I was extremely bias. But, I too got it on DVD and still gotta say its a good flick.
Although to open myself to critique I am the kind of reviewer that expects nothing going in and if I get a little I’m cool but if I get anymore, visually or story-wise, I’m impressed.
I completely agree, Michael, mainly about the atmosphere. Atmosphere can do wonders to you. To Paddy, unless you were very excited, I can see how you could fall asleep while watching this movie. The acting and writing were atrocious. But on the other hand, it is James Cameron. He’s known for that kind of thing.
In the re-release of this picture there wasn’t much as far as new material. A new beast is re-inserted and some longer shots. Not much more than an excuse to watch it again I guess? I enjoyed it but don’t really like when the re-release film on the premise of something new when its just a ploy to rake in a few more bucks. Come out with the sequal for that!
Next winter, Michael. And on re-releases, I think that Apocalypse Now’s Redux made the film a good bit better, simply because of its extensive scenes and better character analysis. On Avatar’s spectrum, there is only one thing I want out of this sequel: A water beast. Give me something big, James, and I’ll spend the $14 to see your shit on I-MAX.
Very good movie. Really enjoyed seeing “good guys” win over the power hungry bad guys. Very touching movie in the end. 3-D was wonderful. Rate it with a 5 star. I do have a soft heart.
Yeah I was rooting for the Na’vi too plus I am especially soft hearted when I review knowing what it takes to write/produce/film a movie.
I think that there were two faults in the movie: The acting and the writing. I said this after I first saw Titanic when I was 7 (and I even knew THEN) that James Cameron needs to stop writing his movies. And he could have picked some talented people for his leads. I liked Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang, but the rest of the acting needed to be looked at again. I, too, had a soft heart, but then I looked at the movie for what it really was: eye candy, with an accidental message that turned many away from it.
Any “inside” news on the sequel for this one? I’m looking for anything underground that I can include in an entertainment article.
Just thought I’d throw it out there to all my fellow reviewer just in case one of you might of heard something cool?
Let me know…
UPDATE: Script is being written. James Cameron plans to film both Avatar sequels concurrently. The first of the two scheduled films is set for a December 2014 release.