Avatar (2009)

Directed by: James Cameron | 161 minutes | action, thriller, adventure, science fiction | Actors: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel Moore, CCH Pounder, Stephen Lang, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, Dileep Rao, James Pitt, Peter Mensah, Matt Gerald, Amy Clover, Sean Patrick Murphy Julene Renee, Scott Lawrence, Jacob Tomuri, Peter Dillon, Sean Anthony Moran

It had to be a film that would unleash a small revolution within the film industry. The way we experience film should change forever. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent developing new technology in the field of 3D recording and motion capture techniques. ‘Avatar’ has thus become by far the most expensive film ever. Separate preview days were held to warm up the public to the spectacle that awaited them. Movie theaters all over the world were converted especially to be able to show ‘Avatar’ mainly in 3D. But does the film offer enough to lure people back to the cinema?

The story the film tells is hardly surprising, let alone startling. Crippled ex-Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is sent to the moon Pandora to participate in a science project, replacing his dead twin brother. By sharing his DNA pattern, he alone can control a precious ‘avatar’ developed for his brother. A biological feat formed from genetic material from both humans and Na’vi, the indigenous people of Pandora, created in their image. Through a nerve link, Jake can use his brain to control the body of his ‘avatar’ to explore the world of Pandora, whose air is too poisonous for humans to breathe.

Led by Doctor Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), Sully must initially help collect samples of all flora and fauna. But when he accidentally comes into contact with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na’vi who takes him under his wing, his assignment changes. On the orders of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), it becomes Sully’s job to infiltrate the Na’vi and persuade them to find a new place to live. Their current location, under a breathtakingly large tree, is a place rich in Unobtainium, an ore that Earth societies want to mine for its high value. However, the more Sully interacts with the Na’vi, the more he begins to appreciate their way of life and the greater his resistance to following Quaritsch’s orders.

The rest of the plot, barring a few surprises, develops in a classical way. It is a modern ecological fairy tale designed to instill in us a love for nature. The story cannot be called much more than adequate. But the way in which it is presented as a whole is different. The world of Pandora is completely believable. And that is unique, since this really is about computer-generated graphics. But every blade of grass, every piece of fluff has been thought through. And the world possesses an unprecedented, breathtaking beauty. The interaction with Pandora, whether by humans, machines, or Na’vi is completely correct. Nowhere is the illusion broken as if this were a non-existent world.

Thanks to the revolutionary motion capture technique, in which the eye movements of the actors are also registered for the first time and transferred to their digital self, the Na’vi are completely believable. Despite the fact that they are 2.5 meters high blue giants. The technique offers unprecedented possibilities, because instead of Na’vi, random other persons or beings can be filmed. The big difference with animation, for example, is that the digital figures are indeed acted. In the case of ‘Avatar’ it has resulted in a world with a soul, which slowly but surely takes hold of the viewer. After more than a century of moving images, a new era may indeed have dawned. ‘Avatar’ is no longer just a movie, but a total experience. (For the best experience, the film should therefore be seen in 3D and preferably in IMAX format.)