1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Avatar

#1117- Avatar (2009)
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang
Directed by: James Cameron


Plot Summary: A valuable mineral known as unobtanium is located on Pandora, home of the Na'vi, peaceful, blue-skinned creatures who live in nature. Scientists use human-Na'vi hybrids called "avatars" to explore Pandora. Among the humans is former marine Jake Sully, a paraplegic who is instructed to gather as much information as he can about the Na'vi. If Jake helps uncover unobtanium, he will be granted surgery to restore his legs. But as Jake becomes more involved with the Na'vi, he is torn on if his alliance should be with his own people, or the new culture he's been introduced to.


I promise not to harp on this fact so I will say it once......THIS IS THE HIGHEST GROSSING MOVIE OF ALL TIME!?!?!?!?! Now that I have that out of the way, I will openly say that I avoided seeing Avatar for a number of years after it was released. After going 3 years without ever seeing it, I finally cracked down to watch it, and to my utter irritation, I was not impressed by it. For something that was hyped up so much and received so much attention from people, I was at least expecting something I could enjoy, but even that was asking for too much. So let's look at why I think Avatar is one of the most OVERRATED films of all time.

Our main hero in Avatar is Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington. Worthington's performance is overall harmless, but the problem is that Jake is a bland main character. Despite Jake's cocky attitude, Worthington adds a unique charm to the character. But the biggest flaw with Jake is that he seems to go through the motions that any other main character would go through, with the twist being that Jake is in a wheelchair. This isn't necessarily bad. However, it feels like that was all that the filmmakers cared about when it came to Jake. While a wheelchair can be a good character motivation, I feel like a lot of it is underplayed and the wheelchair just becomes a supposed personality for Jake. I personally felt that Jake was wasted potential on a writing perspective, and is only partially saved by the charisma Worthington is able to bring to the role.

Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana, is Jake's main love interest and his connection to the Na'vi. I know she has her fanbase with many sci-fi fans, but I honestly don't see it. Most of the time, I found her nagging and waving her finger at Jake, normally referring to him as an idiot. It's honestly not a very endearing character trait for two reasons, first because we are supposed to like her cause she's obviously Jake's love interest, and secondly, because she's supposed to be the audience's main connection to what the Na'vi are like. I found myself not really caring about the Na'vi because I found Neytiri to be overbearing and pretentious, and when she's part of the colony I'm supposed to be rooting for, that is NOT a good thing.

The villain of the movie is Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang. Of the cast members, it does seem as if Lang is having the most fun with what he was given. Quaritch is not a subtle villain, I do find him chewing the scenery in many of the scenes he's in, but he at least is a memorable character in the film. And when I say he isn't a subtle villain, I REALLY mean he's not subtle. By the time he's introduced, the audience knows right away that he's going to be the villain, yet it comes off as a big surprise to the other characters when it's revealed later on. Even if he's the most generic type of bad guy there can be (the greedy military type who is only out for what he wants and is willing to wipe out an entire nation to get it), Lang does seem like he's enjoying what he's doing, which does translate well to film.

Of course, the only real thing this movie has going for it is the special effects. While I do believe the effects used to bring Pandora and the Na'vi to life are very impressive to look at, It should not be the selling point of your film. When I told people why I didn't like this movie, I heard two excuses for it. The first was, "You didn't see it in 3D? Well then, you didn't understand the movie." A 3D gimmick should not be the factor in what makes a film good, that's just ridiculous. And the second was, "Yeah the story and characters suck, but the effects were good." It astounds me to realize how many people were fine with saying the effects made a film good, even if the plot and characters weren't. The less I say on that the better, I think I'm gonna give myself an ulcer if I talk on that too much.

When talking about Avatar, the word I feel I must stress in this review is OVERRATED. The biggest problem I have with the movie is the false sense of originality it created, and in turn, the big ego it created for director James Cameron. I'm sure it was probably a unique idea when he wrote it decades ago. But by the time it was released, numerous other films did the same storyline idea, and the only thing making Avatar stand out from the others is the special effects. And based on my stance on special effects in movies, you can pretty much figure out that I enjoy character development and engaging plot, and I honestly don't find much of that in Avatar. The plot is as basic as you can get and the personalities and development of the characters are paper thin, so naturally, the appeal Avatar had on millions of viewers was lost on me.


Rating:  2 out of 5 stars.

Even if it is the highest grossing film of all time, that is not a good reason to see Avatar. It has the most basic plot and characters you will find for a film of its kind, but with a bigger effects budget. Only recommend seeing Avatar if you want something nice to look at for nearly 3 hours.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review 

Avatar and movie images are copyrighted by 20th Century Fox