Released December 18, 2009
Well this is honestly a tough one to review. I will tell you outright my initial reaction to the film was negative. Not because I was not blown away by all three hours of the epic tale, but because there was just too much tail (and not the kind I like).
This remake of Disney film Pocahontas retold in a futuristic setting was a bit unsettling. In this version, just like John Smith coming to Pocahontas' side as the evil white man came to destroy the native peoples, Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington) became an Avatar version of himself to save Neytiri and the Na'vi people on the moon Pandora. Yes, it is surely an updated version of the story, but once again it is just the lovely white man becoming a superstar in the native world and saving the poor innocent natives from the evil white-man-commeth. If you don't know the entire story of this film, exactly what will happen in the end and how it will happen in the first ten minutes of this film, you are not intelligent. Straight up.
Now the good - I saw this while it was still offered in 3-D and I was blown away by James Cameron's (Titanic, Terminator 2) ability to create this entire CGI world. Literally I cannot fathom how Cameron went through the process of making this film a reality. The graphics were truly jaw dropping and the CGI was fluid, seamless and honestly, perfect. I thought the 3D in this film was done very well as well. This was the first time a film was simply just OFFERED in 3D for your viewing pleasure. There was no moment when some object or person JUMPED out of the screen at you to scare you (moments like this are in countless Pixar films that are great when you see them in 3D and they make you jump but they seem pointless when you watch them at home on DVD with no 3D in sight).
Overall, this was one of the corniest/cheesiest films I've ever witnessed. The soundtrack alone made my sides split. BUT, when you compare it to a lot of other epic films coming out these days - it is on another level. The fact that NO - it is not a remake of a DC Comic, it is not a remake of something from 1970 and it is not a book released in the last 10 years - it is an original creation (albeit copycat of the "white man in America" story). An unreal feat by my Mr. Cameron.
3.3 out of 4
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