Review of Avatar (2009) by Joss D — 06 Jul 2014

James Cameron revolutionises the world of special effects in this full-scale spectacle which is only slightly held back by a generic storyline and bad dialogue. We've seen this plot a hundred times before, from Ferngully to The Last Samaurai/Mohicans/Wolves/Pocahauntus, yada yada, but Cameron tells the tale with such love and affection for his world and its inhabitants that I didn't really mind.

While Last Samaurai felt like a cut-and-paste job of what hollywood thought the samaurai would look like before tom cruise saved them, there's something slightly more genuine with Avatar's fictional allagorical world.

While the last act - where shit gets thoroughly blown the **** up - seems to be the most popular, I found it to be the weakest as it really lacks any substance. The man vs nature thing also becomes over-simplified to the extent that allagory and metaphor become imposible.

So, to sum up this scattered review, its a very good film but also very flawed. Perhaps with something more original it could have been a masterpiece. 4/5.