MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR

Ok…I’ve never been one to get so caught up in a film that I would exaggerate my experience of a flick but I must say that Avatar might have very well been the Star Wars of this generation in terms of influence.  This movie indeed is a game-changer and this is coming from someone who did not even want to see the movie in theatre in the first place. 

I could’ve easily have seen it on bootleg and that would have been a huge mistake (I don’t think bootlegs come with 3-d glasses lol).  Usually, if something is soo overly-hyped by the masses, I’m the person looking at the hype side-eyed like “that’s not that dope, y’all need to calm down”.  Another reason for my less than eagerness to see this movie was because my old film teacher and his hatred for anything James Cameron that he instilled in his students.   “James Cameron is more of a technician than he ever will be an artist” he would lecture to us.  I never actually knew the source of his hate, I think James Cameron might’ve stole his girl back in the day.lol But through a random chain of events, me and the True Conns fam ended up at the movie theatre for Avatar and it was unexpectedly a great look. 

The movie takes place in 2154 on a planet called “Pandora” (yes, like the music program) as humans from a depleted earth look to invade an otherwise peaceful cohabitat and “move out” it’s Natives called the Na’vi, for it’s rich land. Side Bar: sounds familiar? *looks at American history book.  The movie definitely makes less than covert statements about imperialism, Green initiative and anti-war messages. 

The protagist, Jake Sully, is an ex-marine who lost the use of his legs but is now being recruited for a special mission that uses a new technology called Avatar that inhibits humans to look, feel and taste just like the Na’vi in order to get closer to (aka infiltrate) the natives of the land.  In the process Jake meets Neytiri, who practically ends up as his ambassador to the Na’vi.  Along the way he falls in love with her and the Na’vi way of life. Side bar: Sounds familiar? *remembers 4th grade looking at the movie Pocahontas. 

From there on the story line gets to be very predictable but still undoubtedly entertaining as the animation and 3-d is not only skillfully done but also sets precedent in CGI for the next decade to come.  It is widely publicized that James Cameron had plans to make this film since 1995 but held off since his vision entailed more advancements in technology.  Now at the end of 2009 we get this masterpiece that only costed a easy 300 million to make. Sidebar: 300 mill? woorrrdd.lol  Artwork in this film is undeniably dope  and the 3-D did so much for the overal experience.  I wrote earlier how my old teacher said Cameron will never be anything more then a technician.  After seeing the art and vision in Avatar, I’m sure he’s eating his words.  I hate hype but this film is easily some of the illest shit I’ve ever seen.