Avatar Review

       Avatar is a movie that came out a few years ago, why review it now? because my opinion is different than most, I thought it was a bad movie.  Before my few readers decide to quit and write me off as a mad man, please allow me to make my case.

                                                                   The Plot
       The plot of this movie is that a disabled war vet is given a second chance to walk because the government spent millions of dollars creating an avatar (alien body that is controlled mentally) for is identical twin, who dies.  Because in this future for some reason the government doesn't believe in wasting they decide to enlist our untrained hero for the mission, sounds plausible right?  The Avatars themselves are used to interact with the locals of a planet called Pandora, as well as provide a safe way for the scientists to survive because of the harsh environment.  However our hero begins to question his mission as he falls for on of the natives and is invited into the tribe.  The government mining company wants the natives to move so they can mine for a rock called Unobtainium (stupid name) under their home.

       The problem here is that the plot has been done before, a lot.  James Cameron is the mind behind such works as Dark Angel, Terminator 1 & 2, & Aliens.  So I know he can be original, not to mention the stupid plot device that is Unobtainium.  He expects us to believe that in the future not only did we forget how to make synthetic elements, but we decided to name the rarest element Unobtainium.  For those of you who still haven't figured it out it is a play on words, the element is unobtainable, meaning not able to obtain.  The plot also was very predictable.  As said before the story has been done, and this movie used HEAVY foreshadowing as well in its narrative, something that needs to be subtle so when it comes up later the audience goes "Oh right they did mention that".  Then their is the ending, I don't want to spoil it, but it is ridiculous cop-out ending that if done in any other movie would be considered stupid.

                                                                  The Characters
       Perhaps the most important part of any narrative in my opinion is the characters, without good characters the best plot in the world is boring.  In this movie our main character is Jake, played by then Hollywood go-to guy Sam Worthington.  This guy is a paralyzed war vet who takes his dead twin brother's spot on a science mission.  He then becomes an honorary member of the native tribe and eventually betrays his own people.  The science portion of the expedition is led by Sigourney Weaver, basically her character is Ellen Ripley if she never encounters the Aliens.  The love intrest is a 9 foot tall blue cat lady played by Zoe Saldana, and the villain is another war vet played by Steven Lang.

       You may have notice I didn't say much about most of the characters, this is because you never get to know them very well.  There are some other side characters who are completely forgettable, and that's about it.  The problems start when our hero is a war vet, but as anyone can tell you the war they survived is what distinguishes them.  For example Vietnam vets are more tragic than WWII vets because they fought a war many believed at the time was unnecessary.  So when they returned many resented them.  On top of that fighting a Guerrilla war in the jungle is way different than an urban war.  The most entertaining characters were Weaver as the chain smoking scientist who didn't take anyone's crap, and Michelle Rodriguez who played the same character she always does.  Thus making this movie 0-2 in my book, not good so far.

                                                                        Visuals
       I don't like to judge this because this is often restricted by budget and the technology at the time.  However Avatar was a game changer when it came to visual effects.  Cameron had a special camera system made up that allowed him to see all the digital effects while he was filming.  True this was inevitable, but I'm giving him credit because this is the movie that actually did it.  The world Cameron imagined for this movie is also pretty spectacular as well.  He used his fascination with the ocean as a basis for a world that during the day was simply a jungle, but at night many of the creatures were bio-luminescent, meaning they glowed in the dark.  Personally I believe the whole planet should have been the night version, but having it the way it was helped with the themes of the film.  Besides, the floating mountains made the day time way cooler.  I saw this movie in IMax 3D, as well as 2D in Theaters, and I have to say, the difference was noticeable.

                                                                          Other
        This is where all the small things are analyzed that don't really fit into the rest of the film.  First up the life tree, home of the natives, and a major plot device.  Also one of many giant trees on a planet with no breathable oxygen.  This is a small thing but if the planet has so many trees, and clean drinkable water, than why was the air so toxic?

       Next up the braid, another huge plot device that I have issue with.  The Avatars are created and grown in test tubes, yet they have perfectly braided ponytails and unique hairstyles that match the one controlling them.  The braid also acts as an organic USB drive for other creatures to form bonds, or in a scene cut from the movie, how the natives have intercourse...making it really awkward when they use the same method to ride horses/dragons/etc.  This is something that always annoyed me, but nobody else seems to mind.

       Another problem with this movie is that the entire plot could have been solved if the hero simply did his job and asked the locals if they could mine at the base of their tree.  This is never even brought up.  All we know is that there is a huge deposit under the tree, but the tree is massive and easily could remain standing while the humans mined at the base, heck they could even ask the locals for help.  Instead the hero never brings it up and the humans attack the locals.

       Last the expedition itself.  Why is there a coordinated mining operation/science expedition?  Why does the mining company have military support?  Why does a colonel listen to a CEO when he decides to declare war on the scientists and the natives?  all valid questions that are never answered in this movie.

                                                                           Verdict
       After reading this I hope some of you will reevaluate this movie.  The plot is tired, the characters are forgettable, the only thing this movie has going for it is visuals.  Now I haven't seen the extended version, and maybe some of my problems with this movie are addressed in it, but because this review is for the original version I don't really care.  Leave a comments as to whether or not I'm wrong below.