Lower Decks

Okay, so let’s get past the obvious things everyone else seems to be saying in their reviews: this is James Cameron’s first movie since ‘Titanic,’ once again he spent a lot of money, and all of it went to creating revolutionary new special effects. Despite all that, you could see ‘Avatar’ for complete different reasons. I’ve read a review that compares it negatively to this summer’s ‘District 9,’ but however wrong that is, it’s a good place to start with a more accurate reaction and characterization of the experience you can expect to get.

Here’s the basics of the movie everyone seems to be dismissing on visual charm but short on story, because yes Virginia, there is a story: ex-Marine Jake Sully ends up taking his brother’s place in a project to relocate aliens from their home so humans can exploit their resources, ends up going native (literally and figuratively). It’s helps to contextualize what is essentially a very familiar story by comparing it to Pocahontas, which was recently dramatized quite excellently in ‘The New World.’ Sully is John Smith in the future, one that feels completely contemporary, one of the most modern-feeling movies that doesn’t try to ape it with teenage stars or situations that I’ve seen.

By putting it in the context of the European conquest of America, ‘Avatar’ does run the risk of seeming irrelevant to current audiences, who would be more likely to think of more recent events like the Iraq War (which reviewers, when they bother to mention the story at all, like to conjure), but the fictional (and comically named) unobtanium in the film is not oil. It’s just an excuse to clear “primitive people” from their land and pretend that “our way” is better than “their way.”

If for no other reason, you will want to see this movie for Sam Worthington, who ironically already performed in a similar film this year, an extension of a franchise Cameron himself created, ‘Terminator: Salvation,’ that serves as a one-two punch introduction for a bright new star. He’s a lot more accessible here, but as an attraction he’s as undeniable as everything else, apparently isn’t. The only other name actor here is Sigourney Weaver, who has finally begun to age, so it’s weird seeing her look that much more vibrant in her big blue avatar. She’s going at least as much for ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ as Ellen Ripley in this one. Oh, and Michelle Rodriguez has a supporting role, too.

‘Avatar’ is funny, because Cameron’s been working on it so long he’s outlasted the only other film that might serve as an accurate comparison, ‘The Matrix,’ which came and went in popularity ten years ago. You could call it a revamped ‘Dances With Wolves,’ too. It also has the feel of a Disney animated feature, in the vein of ‘Tarzan’ or ‘Mulan.’ Although Robert Zemeckis has been doing a lot of unappreciated work in motion-capture projects like ‘Beowulf’ and ‘A Christmas Carol,’ you may find yourself thinking more about your Pixar experiences. Personally, the whole Pixar phenomenon has really started to bug me, because it’s gotten to the point where critics and audiences will accept whatever the studio does and call it brilliant, when there isn’t actually a huge different between their CGI movies and what their competitors do, except for a typical strong emotional moment, which might in any other context be called the same kind of manipulative experience critics hate in films like ‘The Blind Side.’ Pixar specializes in the unexpected star, but otherwise, the majority of their films are almost exactly the same. I do like Pixar, but I don’t believe there’s anything more than hype keeping it afloat (ha).

‘Avatar,’ meanwhile, won’t get the respect it’s due even though it’s doing far more revolutionary and complicated things simply because Cameron can’t be relied upon to create something on a clockwork basis. His work comes off more like a vanity than something that can just be enjoyed, even though it can, on any number of levels. It’s asking too much.

But like I said, if you get past everything you know about it, just the movie ‘Avatar’ itself is exactly the kind of transformative moviemaking that people should expect more often, not simply from a single creator working years on a single project, but what films should be capable of doing all the time, like people expect of Pixar, but in a more genuine way. Critics love things they can feel nostalgic about, or that press buttons they were already thinking about. ‘Avatar’ bucks that trend in every best possible way.