Avatar Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Avatar
Director: James Cameron
Year: 2009
Country: U.S
Language: English

During the Summer of 2009 pretty much everyone I knew was talking about James Cameron's Sci Fi Blockbuster Avatar. Most of this chatter was about how unique and innovative it was. I remember seeing the extremely large posters of the film in front of the Cineplex a few months before the film came out and thinking "What person in their right mind would want to see this?". The trailers didn't excite me either, mainly because of the director behind the film, James Cameron. I've seen plenty of interviews with the man and he always struck me as an obnoxious jerk with very little real talent. I desperately tried to avoid the film, but one night I gave in due to overwhelming curiosity. In this case curiousity didn't kill the cat, but it wasted three hours of my life.

Avatar is about a paraplegic Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. Soon he learns of greedy corporate bully Parker Selfridge's (Giovanni Ribisi) evil intentions of elminiating the native human-like "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their territories.In exchange for the spinal surgery that help him learn to walk again Jake's job is to gather intel for the military as well as infiltrate the Navi people using his avatar identity. Jake then begins to bond with the tribe and falls in love with one of the blue aliens. However the Colonel (Stephen Lang) tries to move forwards with his operation, forcing Jake to stand up for his new people.

I like when this film was made in the 1990's and called Dances with Wolves. Or was it called Pocahontas? Enemy Mine? The Last Samurai? I know what this film is like! A less intelligent version of Ferngully: The Last Rainforest! Except there's no Robin Williams in sight because even he is intelligent enough to stay away from a film this bad. Avatar's story is nothing special at all, it's a rehash of the same old white guilt fantasy. The natives of Pandora, the "Na'vi'" are just blue versions of the stereotypical native in every Hollywood film ever made!  Jake Sully is the typical Caucasian man with a "white savior" complex. He hates the oppressed likestyle of the "navi" and hus think that he can be their leader, their Moses, and bring them the liberty that they need. It can't be that hard after all. Though this is what the very nature of what colonization is! White people who assume they know better than the natives, attempt to be the leader and completely opress the people.

A comment I always here from Avatar/James Cameron fanatics is about how "environmentally aware" this film is. REALLY? Sure, there may be a brief bit about the dangers of forest destruction in Avatar but the film is essentially technical masturbation. It is a film that is all technology and no innovation. In interviews Cameron took pride in the fact that this film was grounded on special effects and CGI. He spent $300 million  making a film based on pure technology. Avatar is technological glorification, it is what many Directors before him, including the great Charlie Chaplin, made films to warn us about! James Cameron is a greedy hypocrite who does not give a damn about the environment.

In conclusion, do NOT watch this film. It is easily one of the worst three hours you will spend on a film. Do yourself a favour and watch ANYTHING else. It is a useless film that has no real value and hopefully will be completely forgotten about in less than ten years. While it is the highest grossing film ever made (without adjusting inflation) it definitely does not deserve to be. I breathed a long sigh of relief when Cameron's ex-wife (he cheated on her with an actress from Titanic) won Best Picture at the Oscars for The Hurt Locker instead of him. Piss on it! 0/5