I had my doubts about Avatar. I first heard of the film nearly a year ago from one of the websites I frequent, www.aintitcoolnews.com. I had no idea there was basically a cult that worshiped James Cameron. Further research on the IMDB.com forums proved this. People were calling out (a year ago, with no screen shots, no footage, no trailer) that Avatar would win nearly every Oscar category. In fact, James Cameron himself vainly stated that Avatar would revolutionize cinema, would be this generation’s Star Wars, and would literally rip the eyeballs out of your face.

After being somewhat disappointed by films I was over hyped for (Wall-E, 9) I was awfully skeptical. Especially to the Oscar buzz being thrown around. A couple of my buddies are big Cameron fans, but I remained doubtful. Even after the trailer came out, I thought the graphics were certainly less than revolutionary. I’m so so glad that I did. In short, this movie absolutely blasted any of my expectations away and it deserves every single Oscar it is going to win.

My wife and I decided to drive to Kansas City to see this film in an IMAX digital 3D theater. That’s three hours away from us, so you understand the investment. If you have the ability to see it on an IMAX, you owe it to yourself to do so. This is the most adept film I’ve ever seen on the medium. We were literally rocked in our chairs during the explosions (a pretty awesome experience in its own right).

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a crippled ex-marine. He’s lost the use of his legs. He has a twin brother that is heavily invested in a team of scientists in the Avatar project. Unfortunately, his brother is killed. Luckily, Jake has an almost identical genome which will allow him to pilot his brother’s avatar, which is grown from a mixture of the pilot’s DNA with Na’vi DNA.

After being in cryo sleep for the 6 year journey to Pandora, Jake awakes and goes planet side. On Pandora, Jake meets Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), an ambitious army dog anxious to get at the Na’vi throats. The Na’vi city rests directly on top of the richest deposit of a rare and very previous mineral and the company that employs Quaritch wants the Na’vi to move – by any means possible. He employs Jake in secret to feed him Intel of the Na’vi from his scientific journey’s promising Jake the ultra expensive operation to regain control of his legs.

Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) is the no non-sense scientist leading up the Avatar experiment. Her team is purely in this for the science and understanding of Pandora and want nothing to do with the mineral. As Jake spies for Quaritch, he learns the ways of the Na’vi from the princess of the tribe, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). When the time comes, which will Jake choose? Neytiri? Or his legs?

So, what was good? Basically, everything. While not revolutionary, I will say that the CGI in this movie is certainly evolutionary. There were many scenes where the various effects certainly looked CGI, but there were a fair amount of scenes that the Na’vi (the tall blue smurfs) looked honest to God alive. It’s the first time a CGI character has completely looked photorealistic – it is a definite evolution of the art. Even the Na’vi eyes look alive, and well acted. Props to whoever had the unenviable task of animating the eyes. This is easily and without doubt, the most convincing CGI ever created.

The world of Pandora is absolutely something to behold. Cameron has created a planet that is so rich in culture, character, and beautiful visuals that I can’t believe this will be the only foray into its forests that we will take. There is material here ripe for use in novels, comics, and sequels (please Cameron?). When you first see the forests of Avatar at night, you will be amazed at the creativity of the team behind it. Everywhere a Na’vi touches in the forest literally glows a fluorescent green. It sounds corny, but the effect is brilliant.

The animals created for the movie defy a lot of common convention about alien species. There are common threads through everything on Pandora, but I won’t spoil those for you. You’ll have to see how everything literally connects for yourself. Hint: the Na’vi have very interesting hair.

The acting is superb across the board. There isn’t a stale performance in site, including the Na’vi. Worthington makes a valiant effort in both his human performance, and his voice work. Zoe Saldana disappears into her role as Neytiri coming across 100% the character, in much the same way Heath Ledger was able to disappear behind the face paint in The Dark Knight.

Of particular note is Sigourney Weaver. Her Dr. Grace is both likably and a menace to Jake when he first arrives. Since the avatars are grown from their pilots DNA, each one looks like its pilot. It’s a little offsetting at first to see her in avatar form, but it turns out much better than I expected.

The story is simultaneously epic and very personal. The events are grand, leading up to the advance of the military. But this is Jake’s story. He must learn everything about Na’vi life and its people. Despite both he and Neytiri being CGI, their budding relationship seemed amazingly real and genuine. Much more so than a lot of recent live action romances. It was this aspect of the film that sold me so hard on the film as a whole. Without the two of them working on an emotional level for me, this wouldn’t have been (to me) the epic masterpiece that it is.

The writing is witty, oftentimes being very funny. The dialogue is (mostly) not clichéd. And the alien language is enthralling.

Lastly, I must speak on James Horner’s score. I love James Horner and every single score he’s ever written. He’s probably my favorite movie composer. (Sorry, John Williams) His creation for Avatar is an interesting mix of great themes and background tracks.

I purchased the soundtrack after seeing the film and have come to love the music in its own right. However, during the film, I mostly didn’t notice the music but for a few key scenes. I know it was present, but I didn’t consciously listen for it. In retrospect, I guess that was the whole point. The music was able to serve the film’s emotional impact without taking away from what was happening on screen. Bravo, Mr. Horner.

So, what was bad? Not much. In fact, the only thing I can think of that would detract from most audiences enjoyment of the film is the running time. At almost 3 hours, I certainly didn’t mind the length, but some might.

Please, if at all possible, go into Avatar with your expectations in check. I almost didn’t review this, because I didn’t want people to go in too excited. See it with a fresh, open mind; and watch yourself come away from it incredibly pleased.

Avatar has taken over my spot for best movie of the year (Sorry, Inglourious Basterds). And rightly so.

Oscars I bet this is nominated for:

Best Picture of the Year

Best Director

Best Original Screen Play

Best Original Song

Best Original Score

Best Effects

And possibly more.

See this film now.