Avatar
2009
***½
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi
In 2154, mankind has exhausted the resources on planet Earth and moved to the moon of Pandora to mine the precious unobtanium, but the local Na'vi population happens to be sitting on the largest deposit. With the help of an avatar, a paraplegic ex-marine becomes a Na'vi in order to study their customs and ask them to abandon their homes peacefully. James Cameron's phenomenally successful science fiction epic looks every bit as expensive as it was. The visuals are groundbreaking and mesmerising, but the script often isn't. The introduction to this new world is exciting stuff, but the plot is formulaic and the climactic battle is long and numbing. An Academy Award winner for best cinematography, art direction, and visual effects. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) is the first of four planned sequels.
