WriterGal | Entertainment | Movie Reviews

How do you create a blockbuster? Just ask James Cameron. His newest movie, Avatar, is unquestionably one of the biggest successes in movie history. This film brings together a cast of familiar faces such as Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang, who do a great job with the material. However is the movie any good? Is it worth spending over two and a half hours (total run time is 162 minutes) watching a bunch of scantily clad blue people running around in the forest?

The answer is yes.

One of the main draws of this film is its visual feat for the eyes. The state of the art graphics coupled with the 3D effect makes the characters and situations literally pop off the screen. It is hard to not be entranced when watching all the different animals, floral, and events as they seem to hover a few feet in front of you. And given the amount of extensive research that Cameron has done to create a new language and new animal types just to add credibility to the story it is hard not to be swept up into this magical world of Pandora, where all these fantasy beings come to life.

As far as the story goes one will find that it is not terribly original. It feels like too much has been borrowed from Dances With Wolves (1990). But who really cares? The story may not be terribly original but it is unique enough to keep you guessing exactly how it will progress throughout the movie. And that is enough to keep this movie from boring the audience.

In the story we find a young marine, Jake Scully (played by Worthington) who is given an opportunity of a lifetime to join an off world research project on the lush moon of Pandora. Because of an incident that happens with his twin brother he finds himself driving a genetically designed creature modeled after the native habitants of the moon. He has his mission to help the humans but as the story progresses it turns out that there is a greater calling for him to side with the natives.

Sound familiar? Yes, it sounds like a lot of other movies that have come out over the years. But even so Cameron makes a compelling enough drama to keep the user interested in the storyline. We may have seen this story before but we have never seen it quite like this. And that makes all the difference.

Avatar is a feast for the eyes and the imagination. Watching it does not insult one’s intellect. It is over two and a half hours but to tell you the truth the time flies by surprisingly quickly. And by the end of the film you realize that you have witnessed something rather historic: a film that is balanced between spectacle and solid storytelling — a rarity within Hollywood.

Image source: inquisitr.com

Wow. Three words come to mind that I would not have thought possible regarding this film. Three magical words that was a shock to both myself and my boyfriend (who begged me to go for several weeks before I finally relented.) Three words. What were they, you ask?

I liked it.

That’s right. After moaning and groaning about the possibility of sitting through another techno-babble-oriented story with my boyfriend about some strange beings from another planet (or planets), I actually found myself enjoying Star Trek, Paramount Picture’s gamble to reboot Gene Roddenberry’s dying franchise. This is shocking because I for one have never been a “Trekker.”

And even though my grandmother had a thing for William Shatner when the original television show aired back in the sixties I never really took to the franchise. In short, the word “Star Trek,” was not in my vocabulary. Or if it was there was a stigma about it — a negative connotation to it, if you will — and I was one gal who seriously never gave much consideration to men with pointy ears. At least not until now.

You see the new movie, Star Trek, is (I am biting my lips and they are bleeding, can’t you tell?) actually really, really fun. From the first few minutes after the lights dimmed until the closing credits I was hooked. And to tell you the truth there is no small feat let me tell you. The story was engaging. I have to admit Shatner was a bit of a looker back in the original show but this Christopher Pine does a pretty good job on his own. And all of the characters in the story were wonderful. Karl Urban who really made a splash in The Lord of The Rings, does an amazing job as Doctor Leonard McCoy. He just about steals the scene every chance he gets. Zoe Saldana who plays Uhura does a very believable job as the communications officer and Zachary Quinto (who inherits the role of Spock from Leonard Nimoy) makes a compelling argument why franchises can indeed be rebooted with much success.

Eric Bana does a great job as the menacing bad guy, Nero. He has tattoos all over which means he must be evil, right? Well, if that is not enough of an indication his violent tendencies through the film are a dead giveaway. The film was directed by J.J. Abrams of television fame for the hit shows, Alias, Lost, and Fringe, and he does an amazing job giving us a movie that is engaging, enjoyable and exciting. The characters basically keep you in stitches half the time which only makes you want more.

By the end of the film it is easy to feel sad. After all the “friends” you made for the last two hours — all those Roddenberry characters resurrected through the new cast — are now gone. At least for now. Four magic words come to mind as I close this review: go see this film. It is fantastic. It is one of the more satisfying films I have seen in quite some time. Sure, it may not be high art, but it is a good time nonetheless. See this film in the theaters or wait until it comes out on DVD or BLU-RAY. You will not be disappointed.