Tuesday 29 December 2009

Film Review: AVATAR (2009)


Director: James Cameron
Running time: 162 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Watched at the cinema Tuesday 29th December 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have been waiting for the chance to see this film for quite a while now and I finally got it today. The gods were against me, it seemed, what with bad weather or other social engagements, I thought I’d missed it. Fortunately I saw a window of opportunity and took it. And believe me I was NOT disappointed!

Jake Sully is a marine whose twin brother had trained to control an Avatar on the wild moon called Pandora. Unfortunately he was killed and Jake, himself a paraplegic, was persuaded to take his place, given he has the same genetic make-up as his brother. The program is run by Dr. Grace Augustine and Jake takes to controlling the Avatar very easily. A group of them venture into the forest where an accident leaves Jake stranded there at night where he meets Neytiri, a native Na’vi. Gaining her trust, he is taken back to the tribal village where Neytiri is tasked with teaching him the ways of her people. Now, being an ex-marine, Jake is persuaded by Colonel Miles Quaritch to find out as much about the Na’vi as he can in order to give the military an advantage over them. At first he does this willingly, but as he learns more about them he comes to appreciate their way of life and he also falls for Neytiri. Having found the biggest deposits of Unobtanium (stupid name, I know), a very valuable ore, are to be found under their village, Parker Selfridge, the representative for the Resources Development Administration orders the troops into Na’vi territory. I’ll leave my short summary here, there is a lot I’ve missed out and a lot more to come, but I urge you to go and see it on the big screen, you’ll thank me.

Although I did find the story a little predictable, I absolutely loved the experience of watching this film. It is absolutely stunning to look at. There is a sequence where the Na’vi are catching and bonding with Mountain Banshee's, flying creatures, that is breathtaking. All of the cast did a great job, Sam Worthington as Jake Scully, Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacon, Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, Joel Moore as Norm Spellman, CCH Pounder as Moat and Wes Studi as Eytukan.

Technically, I cannot fault it, the effects are stunning, it’s almost like you are taken to Pandora for 162 minutes. As I said before the story is a little predictable, but it looks stunning and I urge you to see it on the big screen. I only saw it in 2D and it looked impressive enough to me, so if you get the chance I can highly recommend it.

My score: 8.6/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/
Official Site: http://www.avatarmovie.com/index.html
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi531039513/

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