Movie Review: Avatar

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Seeing Avatar is a lot like going on a date with a drop-dead gorgeous girl.  Even if she isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, you’d be stupid if you didn’t go because she’s just so beautiful.  But how do you feel afterwards?  Does that experience stay with you?

I would have easily paid $50 for my ticket to Avatar – it’s THAT visually astonishing.  If you have the ability to see this movie in IMAX 3D, do it.

Here’s my problem, though.  So many critics are calling Avatar life-changing, amazing or even perfect.  I agree that this movie looks incredible.  It WILL change the way we watch movies from now on.  It WILL change your opinion on 3D films.  It WILL delight your imagination and senses in a way you never thought possible.  But, a movie is more than what we see with our eyes.  It’s story, character, theme, struggle and everything in between.

Avatar IS a great film but it’s not perfect.  It’s heads and shoulders above epic fails like Transformers 2 or 2012.  Big time.  But if we could somehow strip away it’s visual glory, I’m not sure that Avatar would quite stand up to some of the other masterpieces by director James Cameron.  As ridiculous as this sounds considering the staggering production budget of Avatar, I expected more.

It’s mostly an issue of writing with me.  Specifically for the action scenes.  When I think of a James Cameron movie, the first thing that comes to mind is his trademark simple, tight-quarters edge-of-your-seat action sequence.  Remember in Terminator 2 when the T-1000 is stabbing through the top of the elevator?  Or in Aliens, when Ripley and Newt are trapped in a tiny glass room full of hatching aliens eggs?  Or any of the nerve-wracking scenes in the cinematic juggernaut Titanic: When Jack is cuffed to the pole and Rose has to axe him free, or when the hallway is flooding with freezing water and they drop the keys to the barricade?  And who could forget the heartbreaking scene with Rose lying on the door while Jack has no choice to freeze to death.  (We all snicker at this scene now, but don’t even try to tell me you didn’t have a lump in your throat when you saw it for the first time!)

Those scenes are what I love about James Cameron movies.  This time around, Cameron is all about going big and epic.  It works fine, but I was waiting for at least one classic Cameron struggle and he didn’t give it to me.  There are a few scenes in Avatar where I thought Cameron was going to unleash his genius: One features the lead character, Jake, choking on the air of this different planet, desperately reaching for a gas mask of sorts.  I wanted Cameron to stew in these frantic moments – make us cringe, perch on the edge of our seats, reach out at the screen and hold our breath as if we were choking too.  He’s made me feel that way in the past … But he took the easy way out.

I also had issues with Sigourney Weaver and Joel Moore’s occasionally awkward performances and some of the stilted dialogue throughout, but I realize I’m nitpicking.

The best part about this movie, exempting the visual effects, is Zoe Saldana. She delivers the best performance of the film, uses her voice in fantastically bizarre ways and somehow, through the magic of motion-capture, makes me fall in love with a 10-foot tall alien woman.  This is the first time since Andy Serkis’ portrayal of Gollum/Smeagle that I wonder if a fully motion-captured thespian should have a shot at an Oscar nomination.

The worst part of this movie is, as I’ve said, the lack of action sequences that make you sweat.  There was a lot of the fire on the screen, but I didn’t feel much heat.  I was more emotionally impacted by the action sequences and moral compass of District 9, the surprise hit of the summer that shared some similar themes with Avatar.

Make no mistake – You need to see Avatar.  It is grand, epic and breathtaking to behold.  But, just like a date with a drop-dead gorgeous girl with not much of a personality, don’t expect the experience to stay with you for very long.  There are many other films, including most of James Cameron’s previous work, that feel like dates with the girl next door: there’s spunk, backbone and character underneath the exterior.  And, when we’re honest with ourselves, those are the kinds of dates we prefer.  At least I do.