Twelve years later, Titanic creator James Cameron yet again delivers a great science fiction extravaganza with the usual tropes and clichés of a "good guy" who must overcome a battle with his own morals to do what's right, but somehow making it all work beautifully. The characters, the musical score for every scene, the beauty and uniqueness of the flora and fauna of Pandora, living forests, thundering waterfalls, nimble beasts, flying dragon-birds, and the way cultures of the Na'vis is portrayed will truly keep you captivated and leave you beyond impressed.
In its initial release, Avatar garnered mass positive reviews and went on to break multiple box office records in various markets. Worldwide, it became the highest-grossing movie of all time and bagged multiple awards in its genre including The Oscars. The story follows a paraplegic Marine who replaces his deceased twin brother to the distant moon Pandora on a unique mission but soon finds himself struggling between following orders and protecting a world he feels is his home. His aim; to persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na'vis to clear way for humans to mine their home and obtain a valuable mineral unobtainium; however, things take a turn when he falls in love with the Na'vi princess, Neytiri, and is eventually drawn into a battle with his own race for the survival of her world. As the planet's environment is poisonous, human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora which is one if not the main focus of the film. With science fiction, the film also displays a series of unexplained phenomena that could not otherwise be explained by logic but relates to a more spiritual and imaginary level keeping in sync with the entire mystical setting of the storyline. The action sequences look phenomenal and you can definitely feel the scale of the two races fighting each other through Cameron's direction.
While the majority agree that "Avatar" uses its sci-fi plot as a metaphor to give voice to our fears of the future and setting a great example of showing how we will fail in our efforts to eventually create a world full of destruction, some argue that it supports racist theme of a white hero yet again saving the primitive natives. The film also has connotations pointing to mass genocide, to the conflicts in countries like Iran and Vietnam, and to ecological situations like deforestation. However, I believe to view it from the perspective of a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble inhabitants and follows a message that all living is connected, and those who intend to exploit nature rather than respect it will only destroy themselves. This becomes evident when all the animals hostile to Pandora come together to charge at the humans to defend their land and their existence. The Ikran (flying birds) attack the aircrafts while the forest animals fight the soldiers on the ground. Neytiri can be heard yelling "Jake, Eywa heard you!" insinuating that mother nature recognized the importance of defending itself.
After its release, Avatar became an extremely controversial movie, with some people claiming it to be groundbreaking while others calling it an overlong and derivative bore. The warranted hate, in my opinion, comes from the fact that it's got a few blatant similarities to other movies that stress on the overproduced heroic factor, however, it is evident that Cameron has poured his heart and soul into this masterpiece, breaking through the motion-capture tech frontier with state of the art CGI. So even if the movie doesn't exactly consist of the biggest twists and turns, it surely sets out to stun us with the enchanting VFX that made the whole mystical world convincing and life-like, working in favor of a classic, albeit overused, storyline.
In conclusion, Avatar is about a race of humanoids that could not be more alien from us, and yet, by about half way through the film, it manages to completely convince us of their realism, their plight and their humanity. It also demonstrated in harsh terms our audacity to be merciless and barbaric to those who appear different from us. This movie did what it set out to do perfectly and maybe even better, and towards the end, it will get you wondering about all the possibilities of life existing in the depths of the universe out there. Without much exaggeration, it is a cinematic experience of the generation, ahead of its time, that will leave you spellbound in the best way possible. So if you haven't seen Avatar, then you should see it as soon as possible- a great science fiction adventure from a master filmmaker!
In its initial release, Avatar garnered mass positive reviews and went on to break multiple box office records in various markets. Worldwide, it became the highest-grossing movie of all time and bagged multiple awards in its genre including The Oscars. The story follows a paraplegic Marine who replaces his deceased twin brother to the distant moon Pandora on a unique mission but soon finds himself struggling between following orders and protecting a world he feels is his home. His aim; to persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na'vis to clear way for humans to mine their home and obtain a valuable mineral unobtainium; however, things take a turn when he falls in love with the Na'vi princess, Neytiri, and is eventually drawn into a battle with his own race for the survival of her world. As the planet's environment is poisonous, human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora which is one if not the main focus of the film. With science fiction, the film also displays a series of unexplained phenomena that could not otherwise be explained by logic but relates to a more spiritual and imaginary level keeping in sync with the entire mystical setting of the storyline. The action sequences look phenomenal and you can definitely feel the scale of the two races fighting each other through Cameron's direction.
While the majority agree that "Avatar" uses its sci-fi plot as a metaphor to give voice to our fears of the future and setting a great example of showing how we will fail in our efforts to eventually create a world full of destruction, some argue that it supports racist theme of a white hero yet again saving the primitive natives. The film also has connotations pointing to mass genocide, to the conflicts in countries like Iran and Vietnam, and to ecological situations like deforestation. However, I believe to view it from the perspective of a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble inhabitants and follows a message that all living is connected, and those who intend to exploit nature rather than respect it will only destroy themselves. This becomes evident when all the animals hostile to Pandora come together to charge at the humans to defend their land and their existence. The Ikran (flying birds) attack the aircrafts while the forest animals fight the soldiers on the ground. Neytiri can be heard yelling "Jake, Eywa heard you!" insinuating that mother nature recognized the importance of defending itself.
After its release, Avatar became an extremely controversial movie, with some people claiming it to be groundbreaking while others calling it an overlong and derivative bore. The warranted hate, in my opinion, comes from the fact that it's got a few blatant similarities to other movies that stress on the overproduced heroic factor, however, it is evident that Cameron has poured his heart and soul into this masterpiece, breaking through the motion-capture tech frontier with state of the art CGI. So even if the movie doesn't exactly consist of the biggest twists and turns, it surely sets out to stun us with the enchanting VFX that made the whole mystical world convincing and life-like, working in favor of a classic, albeit overused, storyline.
In conclusion, Avatar is about a race of humanoids that could not be more alien from us, and yet, by about half way through the film, it manages to completely convince us of their realism, their plight and their humanity. It also demonstrated in harsh terms our audacity to be merciless and barbaric to those who appear different from us. This movie did what it set out to do perfectly and maybe even better, and towards the end, it will get you wondering about all the possibilities of life existing in the depths of the universe out there. Without much exaggeration, it is a cinematic experience of the generation, ahead of its time, that will leave you spellbound in the best way possible. So if you haven't seen Avatar, then you should see it as soon as possible- a great science fiction adventure from a master filmmaker!