If there has been one thing this Oscar season that has been driving me absolutely crazy it's the vehement hatred being thrown Avatar's way by, in many cases, people who haven't even seen the film or just don't "get it". You would be amazed how many arguments I have gotten into over Avatar and the funny thing is it's not even one of my favorite films of the year. I mean I respect it and think James Cameron's directorial achievement is staggering along with it numerous technical breakthroughs. That being said, the story is full of archetypes that border on cliche, the dialogue is only a step above Lucas's "best" banal and sappy writing, and the lead character we are supposed to care about leaves a lot to be desired. There is a lot to criticize about Avatar and many of the criticisms are valid, but they are missing the point altogether. The art and beauty of film from the beginning has been about transporting an audience to another place. It provides an escape from their everyday lives. Film lets human beings wildest dreams come true on screen. I cannot think of a film in recent memory that has accomplished this in such a daring and mind blowing way as Avatar. It is a film that displays the power of human imagination and the modern limits of cinema in a way that is staggering. If Avatar is nothing else it is a grand vision come true and what a vision it is. The world of Pandora is lush and rich and visually stunning. It pops with colors, light, atmosphere and inventive and at times even scary creatures. It is a fully realized world and Cameron sucks you directly into it through the technological breakthroughs that he spent years researching and perfecting. The 3D in Avatar is all about fully immersing you into the experience and not throwing random objects in your face. It creates such a depth of field that has never been accomplished before on screen that you can clearly see where every single blade of grass fits into the geography. You feel as if you are standing there with these people in this story. But where Avatar really shines is in its performance capture. It takes what WETA Digital did with their work on Lord of the Rings and expands upon it to create photo realistic characters that act, breathe, speak, and look like they are giving a true performance. Much has been questioned about whether performance capture really counts as acting - the answer if you know anything about the technique is a resounding yes. Cameron and his team spent painstaking hours making sure that the original performances of his actors were preserved from the smallest details to the biggest gestures. And then yes they were enhanced. Performance capture isn't about replacing acting, it's about enhancing it for films where fantastical elements are very much in the foreground, such is the case with Avatar.
And while all these technical breakthroughs would be impressive by themselves it all wouldn't matter very much if the movie wasn't any good. But that's just the thing - Avatar is a good movie. No it's not great, but my god it is thrilling and at times even overwhelming. Cameron is in such control of his medium and you can feel his presence in every frame of this film. His action sequences are the best in the business and with Avatars final battle he proves that no one can direct action quite like him (further proof see Aliens, Terminator 2, True Lies, and the last hour of Titanic). And how could you possibly forget the first Banshee flight sequence, or when the floating mountains are first revealed, or the night time tour through Pandora on the way to the village? These are all images that have burned themselves into my memory. They are unforgettable.
And while Cameron's story may have been cliche, he is telling it in a way that hasn't been done before - that's right in space on a new world with wonderful creatures and IDEAS. Cameron packs a lot of IDEAS into Avatar, some of them obvious and some of them more subdued. There is a reason why Avatar has been connecting with audiences all over the world and it's not because of the 3D. Many countries do not even have 3D theaters, in fact over half the people in the United States that have seen Avatar have seen it in traditional theaters not in 3D or IMAX. No, the reason why people all over the world are spending their hard earned money again and AGAIN to see this film is because of its universal themes, which include but are not limited to pro-environment, anti-war, human rights, anti-capitalism, and the bond between humans and nature. For many Avatar has been a semi-religious experience. People have reported depression because they can't live on Pandora. If that isn't a wonderful display of the power of cinema then I don't know what is. Avatar is hated because of all the money it has made and all of the hype behind it. And in many ways it was over hyped, but in other ways it lived up to A LOT of that hype which is more than I can say for most big budget Hollywood product. And what a lot of people seem to forget is that Cameron and Fox were taking a huge risk on Avatar. This was in no way a sure thing. The film cost upwards of 500 million dollars because of the technology being developed for something that had never been attempted on this large of a scale before. Cameron and his crew have earned every cent they have poured into this project, which was obviously a project of passion and love. Avatar is really good filmmaking even if it isn't great storytelling and people need to start realizing this and quickly. There is a good chance that Avatar WILL WIN the Oscar next Sunday. My money is still on the Hurt Locker but it would not surprise me if Avatar pulls through at the last minute. There is nothing that Hollywood loves more than a genuine risk that pays off with popularity and most importantly of all tons and tons of money. But I have a feeling Cameron could care less about all of this. He already has his Oscars from Titanic, which also suffered from inevitable backlash due to it being "the king of the world". But you know what even if Cameron is not the King of the World he certainly can lay his claim to being the King of Modern Hollywood Cinema. And you know what? That's not a bad place to be and he's laughing all the way to the bank.
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