MOVIE REVIEW - Avatar

Writer/Director James Cameron has had this idea in the works for over 15 years, and this week Avatar comes to the screen.

The big Sci-Fi Avatar with its 250 million dollar price tag, and it's 120 million dollar promotional budget has a lot to live up to. Does it? Seems like it can't miss. And at the box office it won't. But what about as a movie?

Avatar is a very complicated story about life in 2149. As much as they may want to try to disguise it, this is a real Sci-Fi movie. There is this moon named Pandorum. On it, are these wonderfully peaceful Avatar people. The are 10 feet tall, and live a wondrous life as a peace loving species that are one with the world that they live in. They live is there harmony with the plant and animal life in their world. Very reminiscent of the Native Americans from the 19th century.

Enter the Americans. They are trying to take over this moon. There is much monetary gain for them and the American Military. They are attempting to harvest all the good from the land, and wipe out the Avatar nations for their own gain. And an epic battle is bound to ensue, and that is the basic premise of Avatar. Too simple to be sure, but the complexity of this movie is too hard to tell in short written form. But after all the hype you've seen, you probably know the basic idea here.

First off. Avatar is immensely imaginative. Visually flabbergasting for the most part, incredibly inventive and marvelously done. The genius of this movie is the vision to see this before you see it. The 3-D is terrific, and groundbreaking. There is much good here. It will be a huge hit, and there will be those who go to it again and again. It absolutely takes you away to this other world in a wondrous and skillful way. Avatar by and large is a young adults movie. That should be noted too.

But to be fair, where I feel many reviewers have not. They loved this movie before they saw it. Avatar is very long, almost 2:40. It is well paced, and doesn't feel overly long and that's still to the good. But, you must be into real Sci-Fi, and you must enjoy watching over 2 hours of animation. There are of course live shots here, but most of Avatar is computer generated. Well done ...but still animated. This will lose some movie goers, and others will love this aspect of it.

Also, there is a very heavy handed social and political message in Avatar. Cameron's vision of Americans in 150 years is still this. We are horrible people that have learned nothing and now run all over outer space taking what we want and wiping out those who are different and weaker than us for our own monetary gain. The American military here, be it futuristic, is not shown in a very good light at all. I know it's all fantasy, but this is the story here. Cameron's vision of us as a people is harsh and negative. There is nothing subtle about Avatar, in it's written script script or in its technical brilliance. As wonderful as many aspects of Avatar are, it's a shame the script is as politically charged as it is. But Cameron has spoken.

Avatar. This could be this generations "Star Wars." Avatar is too intense for young kids in story, language, length and effects. But older kids and young adults will love it. To be honest in some ways you've never seen anything like this on screen. In it's story though, you've seen this movie many times before.