AVATAR

It has been 12 years since James Cameron's "Titanic", and everyone has been waiting for what movie he will do next. His new film, "Avatar", is anything but "Titanic". It is actually a bigger, more expensive, and more special-effects driven than any movie he has done before, and that's saying something when compared to the other films he has done (The Terminator, T2, The Abyss).

"Avatar" is about a paraplegic marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is sent to a far off moon called Pandora. On Pandora, the natives (called the Na'vi) are at war with the the humans. This is because the military have turned into mercenaries, and want to mine the planet for a precious substance that is more valuable than anything on earth (it is never specified why). An avatar is an organism that looks exactly like a Na'vi but is connected to the mind of a human and can be controlled by one (a lot like the Matrix). Jake hooks up to his avatar and tries to negotiate the relocation of the Na'vi because they are sitting on the richest deposit of the substance on Pandora. When the leader of the mercenaries, Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang), gets impatient though and tries to kill the Na'vi for the substance, Sully has to choose which side to fight for.

"Avatar" is an absolute pleasure to watch. It has the best special effects ever put on screen, even better than "Star Trek". The motion capture technology used for filming the Na'vi and avatars is incredible, the faces of them are not blank like in so many movies before this, but are filled with emotion and, maybe, a soul. Neytiri, the Na'vi love interest for Jake, is a marvel to look at. She never looks fake or CGI throughout the entire film, every emotion can be seen on her face from hatred to love. The world of Pandora is just amazing to see, but it really comes alive at night. The ground glows when Jake's avatar puts his feet on the ground, trees glow in the dark, and some really disgusting creatures come out. Nothing ever looks fake, all the creatures, Na'vi, and spaceships look absolutely authentic.

Like all James Cameron films though, his script is somewhat lacking in character development and the film gets very preachy at times (aliens good, humans bad!). This little complaint is no match for the rest of the movie though. The 3D cinematography is a wonder to look at, as are the computer generated locations in the film (the cryo ship that Jake arrives to Pandora in, the base on Pandora, and the giant tree the Na'vi live in). James Horner's score is good, as it works in Native American-like chanting and singing, as well as a 1930's-sounding over-score. "Avatar" is a very long movie, running at 2 hours and 42 minutes. The only slow parts though are the action sequences toward the end of the film. The 30 minute long climax is too epic for its own good, and stretches believability beyond the breaking point.

You will not want to look away from the screen when watching "Avatar". You will be looking at the screen with an open mouth when seeing the awe-inspiring visuals, just make sure to wipe your drool away every once and a while.

Verdict: GO SEE IT!

****.5/ ***** (4.5/5 STARS)