James Cameron Creates the Breathtaking World of Avatar

The first thing I heard about 'Avatar' before it was released was that it would be like 'Dances with Wolves'... in SPACE! James Cameron even admitted that the stories were very similar; however I just saw 'Avatar' and I've seen 'Dances with Wolves' and they're nothing alike. For one, 'Avatar' doesn't make the huge mistake that I believe 'Dances with Wolves' makes. In 'Dances with Wolves' John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) falls in love with Stands With a Fist (Mary McDonnell) who happens to be a white woman that was captured by the Sioux tribe when she was younger. Wouldn't it have been a far better love story if he fell in love with a full blood Native American? If John Smith could do it, I'm sure John Dunbar could too. 'Avatar' doesn't make this mistake, you'll know that just by watching the trailer.

The entire movie takes place on the planet Pandora. Like I mentioned in Darkness Around the Sun, James Cameron created the entire landscape of Pandora so that he could move through it on a computer and capture the breathtaking scenery. From the floating mountains to bioluminescent forests, Pandora is one of the most beautiful places you'll ever experience in a film and it's all in 3-D! Just about everything in this movie is computer generated except the humans but the graphics are so cutting edge that you wouldn't know it. Also, James Cameron takes 3-D to an entirely new dimension! ...which would be 4-D, but not really... you get my point. Cameron wanted to destroy the fourth-wall so the audience would feel as if they were on Pandora and being part of the action. You can read about his 3-D process in a POPSCI article, titled Inside the Scene-Stealing 3-D Technology Behind James Cameron's Avatar, or if you're one of those people who doesn't like to spoil the secret behind magic tricks that's fine too. At any rate, if you plan on seeing Avatar then see it in theaters and in 3-D before it's too late!

Sigourney Weaver, who became famous as Ripley in 'Alien' and James Cameron's 1986 blockbuster 'Aliens', gave a fabulous performance in 'Avatar' as the leader of the Avatar program, Dr. Grace Augustine. For just turning 60, Weaver is looking young and still has the attitude but this time with a little more depth in her emotion. Sam Worthington is another very familiar actor who we have seen play Marcus Wright, the half-robot man in Cameron's Terminator: Salvation. Worthington now takes on a well-deserved leading role in 'Avatar' as Jake Sully who is an ex Marine now turned paraplegic. Although there isn't much background known about Jake or Grace, both of their character's development is astounding because their emotions are so well portrayed.

'Avatar' has a very rare and magical balance of graphics with the story. Many directors *cough*Lucas*cough* make the mistake of overwhelming their movies with amazing graphics but have poor plots. James Cameron has created this entire world of magic creatures, plants and of course the native humanoid tribes of Na'vi. An entire language was created for the Na'vi by Paul Frommer. What is so great about this world of Pandora is that everything seems to have a purpose and it all makes sense. It would be easy to created animals and put them in some random landscape but the physics and biology of Pandora are explained scientifically and spiritually. For instance, the low gravity makes everything very tall. What I liked most about Pandora was that every living thing was mentally bonded. An energy flowed through roots from trees to plants and animals were able to bond with the Na'vi people through what I believe they called a "halo".

James Cameron may be a prick, but he knows his movie making. He waited years before finally making 'Avatar' so the technology would catch up with the idea and it was well worth the wait. 'Avatar' is only the beginning, however. Cameron's next film, 'Battle Angel', is in production. Allegedly 'Avatar' was just training ground for Cameron to test this new technology; meaning 'Battle Angel' could possibly surpass 'Avatar' when released in 2011. I look forward to seeing it. My rating for 'Avatar' is a brilliant 93 out of 100! It better win some awards so I don't look stupid.