Avatar: More Than Just Science Fiction

Cinema is changing, and its new face may just be blue.

Film’s wonderchild James Cameron has delivered yet again with Avatar, the three-dimensional epic that is set to outpace his former masterpiece The Titanic.

Let me begin by saying this: You need to go see this movie. It’s going to be talked about on television; it’s going to be discussed around dinner tables and over coffees; but, most importantly, it will be remembered decades from now as the movie that changed the face of the film industry forever.

As a fan of foreign films and the occasional chick flick, I’ll admit to having been hesitant about dedicating over two and a half hours to a science fiction thriller. Despite this uncertainty, I enlisted some friends and embarked on a 3-D journey to the alien planet Pandora.

The first things to hit you are the dramatic visuals. Put simply, Avatar is the most visually fantastic movie ever created, and at a production price tag of more than $300 million it certainly deserves the reputation.

Brush your previous thoughts of 3-D aside; there is a refreshing lack of surprise-bug-in-your-face abuse. Instead, Cameron manipulates the graphics so that moments into the film they become completely organic. As a viewer you are quickly and deeply immersed in an alien jungle teeming with phosphorescent flowers and beautiful otherworldly “butterflies.” Every time a new creature was revealed it was so surprisingly imaginative and so realistic that it elicited “oohs” from all across the theatre – myself included.

Cameron was forced to create his own technology to produce the alien planet and its beautiful inhabitants. This new, realistic 3-D evolution is poised to alter the way we experience movies altogether. Welcome to total immersion with cameras that place the movie not only in front of you, but also around you.

Beyond the visuals, Avatar’s plot is fairly straightforward and seems deeply rooted in the Pocahontas archetype: Exploitative foreign (human) soldier meets native (alien, known here as the Na’vi) beauty and is taught her ways by her people – soldier falls in love – conflicted soldier changes sides to protect his new people and their land.

Avatar eludes these clichés with stunning visual effects and talented acting. The (previously) unknown actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, who play marine Jake Sully and his Na’vi love interest, Neytiri, throw themselves into their characters with believable dedication. Their relationship is poignant and realistic, allowing us to overlook some of the cheesier lines.

From its awe-inspiring beginning to heart-racing conclusion, Avatar will have you gripped by its dazzling visuals and heartfelt acting. Not just for sci-fi aficionados, Avatar is a landmark in cinema evolution that everybody should make a point of seeing.


— Stephanie Maris

Avatar is currently out in the theatres in IMAX 3-D, regular 3-D, and high-definition 2-D. I highly recommend that you experience it on a towering IMAX screen.