Avatar: Astonishing spectacle, predictable plot

Avatar is saddled with the oldest and most predictable plot in the world, but still delivers an astonishing spectacle.

The first film from James Cameron since Titanic, Avatar fills the screen with things never seen before, creating a world of unearthly colours, weird physics and oddly familiar fauna that never existed.

All of Cameron’s clichés – built up over a career of highly lucrative action films – are here: A long, slow buildup to a wonderfully over-the-top action sequence; great performances from great actresses given meaty parts; an over-earnest, hamfisted and somehow sweet romance; and incredible sights and locations.

In the 10 years he spent perfecting the world of Pandora and its inhabitants, Cameron had more money than God and could indulge in any technical whims he had. Everything he perfected has been slapped up on screen, creating some of the best visual effects ever put on film.

The story the grandeur has been stapled to is nothing new – noble savages show the ignorant civilised man the pleasure of climbing trees and firing arrows – but still keeps barrelling along.

This momentum is sustained by some likeable performances, with lead actor Sam Worthington managing to show some real charm through the odd gloss of his computer-generated Na’vi body.

Typically for Cameron film, it is the female parts that really bring his sometimes tin-eared dialogue to real life. Zoe Saldana, last seen as the new Uhura in Star Trek, sells the romance side with her giant eyes and bigger ears, while Sigourney Weaver gives one of the few good human characters real depth as a scientist who cares more about the world around her than the people she works with.

An environmental subtext is blunted by its obviousness and its no surprise to see a faceless corporation held up as the ultimate bad guy, driven by bad quarterly results to destroy the simple indigenous life as it hunts a miracle ore with the wonderful name of ‘unobtainium’.

It’s also a long, long film, with numerous scenes of people – both real and CGI – reacting to bright colours and lights with slow motion awe, but Cameron still knows how to pace out a film.

The first major action sequence only kicks in after two hours of world-building, but is worth the wait, with the previous two hours of backstory all temporarily forgotten in favour of flying lizards plucking soldiers from helicopters and evil men in massive power suits getting into fist fights with alien warriors.

It doesn’t take long for the viewer to slip into the world of Avatar, especially with the 3D effect adding to the unreal feeling of the alien world, with the visual technicians making the art of matching computer effects with human actors look effortless.

It’s not a quantum leap in movie special effects, following a progression of major steps in the field that Cameron has made over the past two decades. But it is a truly astounding feat, creating a visual feast that doesn’t overwhelm the senses, content to push them to the limit.

And even in the vivid palette of a brand new world, there is still the humanity that has existed in all Cameron’s films – the human will to survive and triumph, to do the right thing, no matter what the cost.

Who needs a new plot when you’ve got all that?