'AVATAR'

'Star Wars' for the next generation? Hmm.

It's Oscar night, and I'm doing what any self-respecting indie director would: denying that I care ;) I thought now would be a good time to review 'Avatar' - nominated for nine of those golden statues, and arguably the most talked about film of last year.

The film takes place in 2154. A multinational corporation has established a mining colony on the moon "Pandora", and has installed a group of Scientists to study it. The environment is toxic to humans, so the scientists have created bodies, called "avatars", that they inhabit mentally. Through these, they explore luscious Pandora and attempt to interact with its native population, the Na'vi: a race of warriors who live in spiritual intimacy with their world.

Jake Sully, a disabled former Marine, takes the place of his late twin brother in the Avatar program. To everyone's surprise, the Na'vi choose him to live with them and study their ways.

But nothing is clear-cut, and soon Jake's mission to Pandora is being compromised is more ways than one.

Let's just get this straight: I liked 'Avatar'. It was entertaining, it was beautiful visually, and being a sentimental sort, I loved the Na'vi's spiritual concepts (like saying "I see you" ie. "I see into your heart and soul", as a way of greeting). Plain and simple, I cannot deny that there were loads of fantastic things about this film.

So why did it leave me feeling cold? The more time that goes by since I have seen 'Avatar', the more it regresses to a shadowy part of my mind called 'meh'.

As beautiful as the film was: visually and thematically, it didn't convince me. Jake was so normal that it was hard to believe he was 'the chosen one'. I'm assuming that this was the whole point: he was special because he was so normal, but I didn't buy it. He had no spark or charisma or intelligence that set him apart as a great leader - apart from the fact that he had "no fear" (yeah right). Plunging this normal bloke into an alien life was an opportunity to create a very interesting character struggle, but this wasn't developed, and the chance was missed.

Apart from the lame protagonist (no pun intended), 'Avatar' was progressing quite nicely, until it became a gung-ho action movie. True, the Na'vi are a warrior tribe, but this change in tone felt inconsistent with the message of the film ("live in harmony with your environment"). If we're supposed to live in harmony with our environment, then why did I feel happy and excited whenever an army man was blasted to hell?

The film was anti-American, but pro-war, which contradicts its supposed themes. The lines between good and evil were unambiguously drawn, in true Hollywood style. Is this really supposed to change people's minds about the way we are living? All it does is find another entity to call evil.

Nonetheless, I can't deny that 'Avatar' cements James Cameron as one of the kings of the Hollywood blockbuster. As the highest grossing film of all time, people's feet have done the talking.

Confused rating: Visually: 8/10; thematically: 6/10.