I am very proud to say that I have never seen Titanic. I was 14 when it came out and everyone at school was obsessed, particularly with Leonardo DiCaprio. We went on a French exchange trip and the situation was even worse over there. Celine Dion echoed round the country and I vowed never to see the watery epic. I was therefore not particularly inclined to see another film by James Cameron, and helpfully he decided not to make any for ten years. But then I saw the trailer for Avatar, and knew I had to see the CGI in 3D even if it was put together by the bombastic self-proclaimed king of the world.
Avatar is set on a planet called Pandora, home to a tall, blue, humanoid species called the Na’vi that live in a lush forest at one with nature. Although the atmosphere is toxic to humans, we earthlings have travelled there to mine a valuable mineral called unobtanium (a groan-inducing name), putting us at war with the Na’vi over land. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic ex-marine brought in to work on a special project in place of his dead twin brother. Sully’s brain is connected up to an ‘avatar’, a half-Na’vi, half-human creature grown especially for the purpose so that he can safely go amongst the Na’vi and negotiate. As he learns the way of the Na’vi and falls for a beautiful Na'vi called Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), he realises that what the humans are doing is wrong.
Cameron has created a story full of high-concept conceits, but that is still paper thin. The environmental and historical allegories involved stick out more obviously than any of the 3D graphics, and the message behind it is as deep as a puddle. It’s just FernGully: The Last Rainforest in space.
The situation is not helped by the choice of leading man. Worthington is hunky, but lacks charisma. And when James Cameron has defined your character only as ‘not as bright as your dead twin brother’, and ‘quite a good marine’, you need all the charisma you can get. Sigourney Weaver brings sparkle to the screen as a scientist, Zoe Saldana is appealing as Neytiri, and it is nice to see Giovanni Ribisi in an atypical role, but generally there is little space in the dumb plot for you to get involved with any characters.
Now that I have established that Avatar is a mediocre film, I can now discuss the reason why everyone will still see it: the CGI. Using new techniques specially developed for the film, the 3D computer graphics are the finest ever made. A sequence where Sully’s avatar is shown the forest at night by Neytiri is breathtaking in a way perhaps only comparable to the first sight of the diplodoci in Jurassic Park (even if it looks suspiciously like the early levels of Rayman). The Na’vi characters are rendered very well, with realistic facial expressions. Cameron’s intention was to get rid of the creepiness of CGI humanoids, and though creepiness remains it is at a far lower level than usual. The 3D is integrated and realistic, not gimmicky with things flying at your face.
Most people will feel that it is worth sitting through the slow opening act and drawn-out final battle for the truly cinematic experience of this middle section. But few will be moved by this technological marvel, something which Titanic (however much I detest everything it stands for) managed to do to millions.
