Many great films are so because their effect and artistry is a result of the combined sum of their parts. Avatar is not one of those films. It is instead a great film because of a few very specific, yet revolutionary parts, which overshadow the mediocrity and unoriginal aspects of several other main components.

Avatar is the latest brainchild of James Cameron, the visionary director responsible for the first two Terminators, Aliens, Titanic, and several other impressive, large-scale films. It chronicles the story of an indigenous race, the Na’vi, on a distant planet, (Pandora) who are threatened to be evicted from their homeland by a human led corporation intent on mining Pandora for an extremely valuable mineral. In an attempt to earn the Na’vi’s trust and gain easier access to the planets resources, the corporation places human representatives in the Na’vi’s community in the shape of Avatar’s, remotely controlled Na’vi bodies powered by humans in a semiconscious state. The most promising ambassador to the Na’vi in this effort is Jake, an ex-marine paraplegic who finds a new energy and sense of purpose in his Avatar form.

As things progress, allegiances become muddled, new relationships are formed, and the allegorical tale of corporate greed and the destruction of the environment gets thicker and thicker. The plot grows at a brisk enough pace, but the heavy hand, predictable story shifts and at times distracting dialogue won’t (or at least shouldn’t) win it any awards for originality.

What will make it a contender come awards time are its impressive achievements in the visual and technical departments. Cameron shot Avatar in 3D, and to great effect. Not the schlocky 3D effects that so many movies employ today of throwing things “through” the screen at the audience, or having distracting details flutter around your peripheral vision to remind you how “cool” 3D is. But instead, what could’ve been just a gimmick is employed in such a way that 30 minutes in, you forget you’ve got on some ill-fitting plastic specs. You are, at a point, not just watching the film, but experiencing it.

The detail in which the environments and characters have been rendered convince the viewer that this world has a life of it’s own, removed from the artificial special effects it’s born from. This experiential nature of Avatar is what separates it from other oversized Hollywood budget hogs. It’s not attempting to fool you into thinking Pandora exists, or that the Na’vi are real, but it instead never doubts itself in it’s representation of these otherworldly realities, and depicts them with a beauty and reverence that makes it tough for the audience to over scrutinize their existence.

Ultimately, it’s this achievement that propels Avatar into the “must see” category of movies from this past year. Tired plot devices and distracting self-righteousness aside, Cameron has produced a visually arresting film that uses technology for it’s most noble intent yet; to captivate the audience, and bring a sense of awe back into the movies.

-Gabe Garagliano

DiscSox Team Member