Avatar

What if I told you that Star Wars Episode III (the last of the new ones) was the best of the entire Star Wars series?  OK, try this one on for size: what if I told you that Avatar is better than any of the original Star Wars?  So maybe I've now blacklisted myself as a heretic, but I must say that I found myself pulling for Jake Sully in a way that I never did for Luke Skywalker.  And I was attracted to the hot Na'vi chick, Neytiri, way more than I ever was to Princess Leah.  Maybe I'm overreacting because I just recently saw this film whereas I've rehashed Star Wars a dozen times by now, but this is a truly quality film and there's more to it than just a cool protagonist and a smokin' C.G. babe.

Jake Sully and his avatar

I enjoyed the avatar concept of having an alternate identity, made even more poignant by the fact that the hero is liberated with full use of his regularly crippled legs when he is in avatar mode.  There is this clearly defined conflict between the greedy corporation and the natives, but there is also the more ambiguous conflicts involving Jake's loyalties and Neytiri's affections.  As Jake transports from one reality to another, he becomes converted to the Na'vi way of life and begins to appreciate the elements and the various life forms and his own interdependency with the biological network in which he resides.  But he knows he's a human in the end, and so, he struggles with his loyalties to humankind as well as his commitment to his hired task.  This dilemma is similar to that of John Dunbar in Dances With Wolves as evidenced in the scene where the union soldier taunts, "turned 'Injun', di'nt ya."  An equally difficult dilemma faces Neytiri who falls in love with the outsider Avatar.  She faces persecution from her own tribe, and eventually has to confront the fact that Jake is truly a human.  This all results in what I consider to be a deeply moving, not too sappy love story.

The graphics and images in this film were breathtaking.  The time and meticulous effort put into creating the creatures and the alternate universe are made apparent by the level of detail and the colors in the mountains and trees, in the creatures, and most impressively in the seamless overlay between the two universes.  Here James Cameron risked plummeting into the Uncanny Valley but fortunately he came out unscathed and on top.  I consider this film to be a culmination of the progress Hollywood has made with computer graphics merged with good acting and good storytelling--something George Lucas couldn't achieve in Star Wars round II.  This is one of the few movies where I will watch (and enjoy) the bonus features once it comes out on Bluray.

Incredible graphics and color.  Neytiri is a total babe.

Finally, this movie had a pretty awesome bad guy, the Colonel.  He was hardcore to the very end, and he introduced me to some cool tough guy sayings that I will be sure to incorporate into my daily speak.  Oh, and Sully had some pretty bad-A manuevers himself.