BEETLE REVIEWS THE MOTION PICTURE EPIC: AVATAR

Avatar's plot is simplistic and fairly unimposing. It is made up of a bunch of familiar story elements that have been mixed together. James Cameron drew inspiration for the film from some of his favorite sci-fi stories such as John Carter Of Mars. Though the plot is mainly borrowed from other films, it's handled in such a way that it comes across as unique, the same can be said about the characters. There's the hero torn between two worlds, the geeky friend, the hard yet sympathetic scientest, and the love interest from another world. Even though we have seen all these characters before we spend enough quality time with them that we are able to care about them during the film.

The Story of Avatar is about crippled ex-marine Jake Sully who is recruited into the Avatar program on the distant planet Pandora. Pandora holds a rare substance that is worth alot of money, which is why a corporation and the military have set up camp on Pandora. The only way to retrieve said mineral is to move the native aliens that inhabit Pandora: the Nav'ii. There's only one problem though: The Nav'ii are refusing to cooperate and have begun to fight back. In desperation, the humans develop the Avatar program in which human DNA is mixed with Nav'ii DNA to create an "Avatar" that the controller will focus his consciousness into. It's all done in the hope of discovering a motive that will get the Nav'ii to cooperate and behave. Of Course, Jake falls in love with a female Nav'ii and soon finds himself torn between two worlds.

Many people are claiming that Avatar is going to revolutionize film itself. In order to correctly address this claim I'm going to take a look at the technology put into making this film. The Nav'ii in the film that inhabit the planet Pandora; which is where the film is set; are all created by the use of motion capture technology. Mo-cap is the same technology used in films such as Beowulf, The Polar Express, Monster House, and A Christmas Carol. Unlike previous use of mo-cap, Avatar, for the first time ever, uses it in the RIGHT way. You WILL believe that these Nav'ii live and breathe. Their so realistic that it's impossible to tell that they are CGI characters. When watching the film you will believe that these nav'ii are real actors...actors that you can touch and interact with. This is the most realistic use of mo-cap that I have ever seen.

The planet Pandora is another beautiful piece of art made all the more real by the use of 3-D technology. The animals, plants, and Nav'ii that inhabit the planet subtly extend out of the screen and into the theatre, entrancing the audiences eyes with a fantastic explosion of color and design. The animals that inhabit the planet are dangerous yet fascinating, the plant life breathtaking and mesmerizing. There are floating mountains that have waterfalls cascading down off them, there are amazing dinosaur-type things that fly through the air taking our hero and the theatre on breathtaking flights around the planet, and so much more. The whole planet is just amazing, beautiful, deadly, and breathtaking in all the right ways. The effort, time and technology that went into designing and bringing Pandora to life were time and money well spent. The Filmmakers even created their own REAl language that the Nav'ii speak. If there was a Pandora I'd be boooking a flight there ASAP.

The 3-D technology is also quite astounding. As I said before The plants, animals, and settings of Pandora subtly extend into the theatre. None of the effects are directly in-your-face, but are subtly used to extend the environment so that the viewer is truely immersed in the fantastic world of Pandora and Avatar. This is the best 3-D movie I have ever seen and probably will EVER see. Yes, I believe that if filmmakers were smart that they would pay attention to Avatar and use it as an example for mo-cap and 3-D from now on. Avatar has the potential to usher in a new age of movie-making technology that will forever change film as we know it...but only if filmmakers are smart enough to recognize Avatar as the marvel that it truely is.

Though the story and characters of Avatar are borrowed and inspired from other works, they come across as original and captivating nonetheless. The film itself is enhanced by a superior knowledge and use of 3-D technology. The statement that "Avatar is not the best film of the year because if you take away the 3-D it is just another boring film" is made null and void by the fact that the film was made to be seen in 3-D, thats how they filmed it. The filmmakers later went back and REVERTED it to 2-D for audiences after the fact. Make no mistake, Avatar not only is the BEST film of 2009, but it's also THE film of 2009. It's a breathtaking, mesmerizing, mind-blowing, exhilarating thrill ride of a movie that will leave you begging for more.

5 stars/ 5 stars