Avatar is not a video game — it’s a movie. When the final credits start rolling, however, you’ll feel as if you have just completed the greatest RPG of all time, and done so on an IMAX screen in 3D. All that’s missing is a controller with like 20 buttons and a vibrating chair, because this movie has everything else. (VERY MINOR SPOILERS)
Action? Get out your watch and play timekeeper. I bet you won’t find 10 minutes without at least some action. It’s not just quantity either, because there’s also quality. The film’s final action sequence would blow even Michael Bay’s feathered locks back.
Romance? Nevermind that its told in mostly CGI, because this love story would make Rick and Ilsa proud. And we didn’t even have to hear “we’ll always have Pandora” at the end.
Romance too mushy for ya? Well, there’s sex, too. Sexual tension so hot it almost feels like you’re Sly Stallone getting his virtual reality freak on with Sandra Bullock. George Lucas can’t even pull of steamy passion like this with actual human actors. There’s even some borderline bestiality for you real freaks. Speaking of sex, Michelle Rodriguez and Zoe Saldana are two smokin’ hot ladies of action. And James Cameron knows a little something about hot chicks kicking major ass. They always have brains and values, too, which is a turn on for all of us guys not names Tiger.
Graphics? Cameron’s brand new virtual camera delivers an experience so real you feel like you’re the one behind it. It also allows more of the actors’ performances to be used, which, combined with some of the finest CGI the silver screen has ever seen, makes the Na’vi creatures as believable as any CGI character not named Gollum. This doesn’t feel like your old Sega Genesis. Instead, it feels like some 3D hologram shit your kids (or kids’ kids) will be playing.
Plot? Political undertones? Paddy Chayefksy-like dialogue? Two out of three ain’t bad. And the dialogue wasn’t awful, just a little “I’m James Cameron and this is a god damn blockbuster”-esque at times. When you’re Cameron, you can afford to be a little cheesy at times, you can afford to overlook witty banter in favor of breakneck plot and breathtaking action. Besides, for a video game (wink, wink), the dialogue gets an A.
Despite its flat trailers, Avatar definitely has a plot. There’s definitely plenty of spectacle, but also plenty of substance. In fact, it’s more King Kong than every attempt at recreating the 1933 classic. What seems like a pure popcorn blockbuster at first glance, doubles as a scathing indictment of humanity upon further examination. After seeing the future of mankind — in 2154, we’re more greedy, wasteful and predatory than ever — you’re eager to ditch that lifestyle and become part of the Na’vi tribe.
You also get to experience and learn a whole new world in what feels like a hands-on fashion as the protagonist does the same. Not only do the planet Pandora and its native Na’vi species look fascinating, they are fascinating. The Na’vi are also more human than human — both inside and out. They care deeply for the world which surrounds them and the creatures around it, and have no need for material filler. This immediately makes you want to be part of the tribe, an urge that is satisfied. But there is redemption in this story. There’s redemption for the brainwashed and crippled marine who gets to walk again using his Na’vi “Avatar” vessel (Sam Worthington’s Jake Scully), and also for the audience participating vicariously through him.
The important number here is one. Not the $300 million it cost to make Avatar. Not the $100 million it will make this weekend. Not the thousands of Na’vi or hundreds of humans who graced the screen. One. And not for Cameron, the one man left whom we can always count on to deliver a hit blockbuster, either.
Both the film’s “Avatar” concept and groundbreaking virtual camera technology immerse an audience of one, you, into the story like never before. Because of this, the message that humans need to stop persecuting those who are different hits home. Because of this, the message that humans need to stop ravaging their planet hits home. Because of this, the message that each of us needs to individually stand up against corporate greed hits home. Because of this, the message that all of us need to have dreams and all of us can reach those dreams hits home. Because of this, the message that love, friendship and family are more important than anything material hits home.
More than anything, however, Avatar’s plot paired with its presentation delivers us with one of the movie-going thrills of our lifetime. At the end, when you remove your Risky Business-style 3D shades, you’ll feel something you’ve never felt before. You’ll feel like you just mastered the greatest video game ever conceived in an amazing three-hour setting. You’ll change your life, get the girl and save the world, yet all you had to do was sit back and enjoy the fly. And because James Cameron is the man behind all of this, “you’ll be back” in the sequel.
