It’s the highest-grossing movie of all-time, and millions of people will be buying DVD/Blu-ray copies. I won’t be one of them.
“Avatar” is out on video. But this first edition comes without the extra features that movie fans have come to expect with DVD releases.
The story, as you must know by now, is based in the distant future – the year 2154 to be exact. A Marine named Jake Sully joins a mission to a far-away planet called Pandora, substituting for his twin brother, who was killed in battle.
Jake is chosen to become an avatar, a creature that’s part human and part “Na’vi”, members of the tribe that live on Pandora, so that the military can get to know the natives better and convince them to leave their land, which is full of a valuable mineral that the military wants to sell and make a lot of money. But Jake gets to like the Na’vi, and falls in love with their princess, and so he has to choose between being loyal to Earth or Pandora.
“Avatar” is nearly two hours and 45 minutes long so there’s a lot in it – both good and bad. The story is a bit confusing when it comes to explaining how Jake gets to go back and forth from one world to another. Since this is Science Fiction you just have to go with it.
The acting is just O.K. Sam Worthington, who plays Jake, and Zoe Saldana, who plays the princess warrior, are both very good. They have nice chemistry on screen. None of the other characters are very believable, including a scientist played by Sigourney Weaver and the evil military leader played by Stephen Lang. In fact much of the dialogue, including narration by Worthington’s character, is simply in the film to explain to the audience what’s going on. That shouldn’t have to happen.
And did I mention that it’s nearly 2 hours and 45 minutes long? Director James Cameron could have chopped-out a lot and it wouldn’t have hurt the film, but I guess he wanted people to get their $300 million’s worth.
On the positive side, “Avatar” is beautiful to watch. The landscape and creatures of Pandora are amazing. Cameron used some new technologies in the making of the film, including a new 3D camera he invented himself. I saw the movie in IMAX 3D and it’s spectacular. He also used the “motion-capture” technique with the actors, making them look real, even though they are also animated.
Still, overall, “Avatar” is a bit of a disappointment. The plot is too simple and while I guess you want the people of Pandora to win and save their land, you don’t really care that much. The movie also tries to send a pro-environment message to the audience, but it didn’t work on me.
“Avatar” is rated PG-13 for all the action-violence, plus some adult language. And the people of Pandora are mostly naked all the time, though they have blue skin and you can’t really see anything.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Avatar” gets a C.
There’s a second DVD release planned for November. That “Ultimate Edition” is expected to have all the extras. Until then fans will have to be happy with simply watching the movie, over and over. For me, once in the theater was enough.