Avatar Review

Cultural assimilation of Avatar has become one of layered nuance. Nobody quite remembers the scenes or the dialogue, or the characters or the direction, but they do remember Avatar. It is hard to forget the financial powerhouse that became of this James Cameron piece, but it is harder to remember the surprisingly drab special effects of the earlier moments, wiped out in their mediocrity by a piece of work that dared to push forth with a whole new universe. That has been seen before. Blue aliens and a big new world with mech suit humans trying to attack it are what is remembered. There is so much more to Avatar, and it is telling that so little of it can be remembered beyond the blue man group aliens at the heart of it. 

Filled with an action quota variety of dialogue choices, Avatar struggles to hold its own narratively. It is a bombastic and large tale of colonialism and at its core, there is a strong semblance of community willpower over the might of metallic boot. Even then, it is not all that engaging and much of that comes down to the script. Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver play some comfortably forgettable pieces of the science-fiction genre tropes, but it is the script that weighs them down so clearly. They have the usual back and forth, the blunt-headed soldier fighting against the morally justified scientist in the face of extinction events. Soon they inevitably join forces, that band of rebels never as convincing nor interesting to participate in.  

At the core of that is the problem Cameron has of building up a world that is both visually interesting and capable of containing a story solely dependent on a McGuffin device. It is the red herring of unobtanium, a nonsense name for a nonsense device used to excel a story that knows it’ll spill out into grey and green space marines shooting up the wildlife and locals. Despite the interest in spilling this story of bloody warfare and the protection of the homeland against invaders, it is the general lack of interest and underbaked storyline. Even then, Giovanni Ribisi excels in that slimy role he so frequently portrays. Cameron depicts a universe rich and ripe for the taking, but diving into the grasslands of Avatar is just as perplexing as being lost in a vast jungle, just without the interest of surroundings.  

Exposition is central and not entirely interesting. Commentaries made here or there, scattershot sketch marks that never feel fully realised, Avatar is a bundle of ideas that prop up the creative but forgettable universe. There is an obvious desire from Cameron to build a world that is set to rival the long-running events of science fiction, but there are very few interesting designs or moments. It all looks a bit better than Planet Dinosaur with David Attenborough. Even then, Attenborough had the good grace to name, shame and proclaim some of the best and most interesting parts of the atmosphere. Cameron has all the parts at his disposal to do something with this world. Whether there is still interest in Jake Sully and the boring exposition that so frequently surrounds him. Conversation surrounding Avatar will no doubt boil down to “do you remember that bit with Sam Worthington?”. The answer is a simple “no”.