Avatar

Directed by: James Cameron
Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez

Avatar is James Cameron's (Terminator, Aliens, Titanic) latest science fiction epic offering which follows the battle for resources on the fertile planet Pandora. Human's have discovered a large deposit of a rare mineral on the planet, and they are in the end process of negotiating with the indigenous beings to recover it peacefully. By end process I don't mean they are going to peacefully recover it, rather I mean the corporation trying to get at the mineral has gotten to the point that forcefully taking it has become the better option. This immediately sets up a very simple good guys/bad guys scenario. With the indigenous beings portrayed as the tree hugging caretakers of Pandora, and human scientists siding with them (the lead researcher being played very well by Weaver) filling out the good guy roster. The bad guys are composed of the human corporation trying to take the mineral, and the military who act merely as mercenaries for the corporation.

Without going into the details of how the story develops, it's safe to say, based on Cameron's previous films, that you can count on: it'll be long, there will be romance, and it will be epic. Cameron delivers on all of these. As the plot suggests, there is also an overarching theme of the human ability to exploit the environment, with no regard to the impact. With all that said, is it entertaining? The clear answer is yes it is. The characters, though steroetypical, are interesting (and well acted). The world of Pandora is the central character, as it is so critical to the story, and so completely realized, it is a significant part of the movie. Cameron has also managed a minor miracle of integrating computer graphics with real world actors so seamlessly, to make the whole film completely believable. The action scenes are some of the best I've seen, and his ability to make the audience cheer against the humans is uncanny. All of these come together to make for an extremely entertaining film, and thouroughly enjoyable for the whole 162 minute running time.

Though its theme of humanity's reckless behavior when it comes to exploiting natural resources can get preachy at times, it doesn't impinge on the enjoyment of the movie. Couple that with a beautifully made film, amazing computer graphics, and a well acted cast of characters, this is that rare film that can be enjoyed by all (a trademark of Cameron films). Its long running time looks intimidating, but the time flies as you are taken to Pandora, to see a pivotal moment in that fictional planet's history. This film has very high date potential, as its mixture of romance and action can be appealing to a wide range of movie fans.

Editor's note: I saw the film at the Loma this weekend and also liked it. There is a bit too much Hollywood shoot-em-up style gratuitous violence, in my opinion, but the graphics, imagery, and general premise (of corporations pillaging the environment at the cost of indigenous - and non-indigenous, for that matter - people's well being) is all too real. I'd recommend the film too, with the aforementioned reservations regarding the violence.