AVATAR

As Arnold Schwarzenegger stated in the 2010 Golden Globes, based on the box-office, if you haven't seen Avatar (USA, 2009) yet, you're the only one. After all, it has already made US$ 1.7 billion worldwide - to date.

But I beg to differ. There are still lots of people who haven't seen it. After all, the movie has been #1 on box-office for 5 consecutive weeks. Yes, I said 5 - and it seems like it will be for the 6th, too. Every one failed to beat it: Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, Sherlock Holmes, It's Complicated, The Book of Eli etc.

Okay, a lot of people are watching it 2 times or more. But it's still the biggest financial hit of 2009. Adding the fact that the 3D tickets (the majority of them) are slightly more expensive, you have the result: James Cameron has done it again.

After the huge success of Titanic (1997) - the highest grossing movie of all time, with a total of US$ 1.842 billion worldwide -, Cameron is his only enemy on money-making: Avatar holds the 2nd position on the ranking. And it won't take long until it 'sinks' Titanic.

About the story: a group of human scientists are conducting an experiment on a faraway planet called Pandora. A paraplegic marine, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) accepts an unique mission: he'll be sent to the planet and infiltrate on a local tribe.
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In order to survive the planet's conditions, his mind will be connected to a Na'vi avatar - a 10 feet tall blue body with long hair and a tail. That can be seen as a metaphore (which didn't please a lot of people) for the paraplegic that gets a second chance to fully experience an adventureful life again.
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His mission is not noble: Jake's supposed to trick the natives into leaving the region where they leave so that the ship crew can explore the soil. They give him three months to negociate and make the natives migrate, or the humans will go and kill them all.
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Of course, he'll fall in love with this new world - and with a sexy Na'vi, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). So there's the conflict: either betraying his new family or abandoning his world and walking away from humanity. i i i i i i i

But straight away: the story is not the film's main attraction. It's about the CGI and special FX: Cameron creates a whole new world, that is really exciting to watch. The attention to details is remarkable and the movie is a visual delight. The plants and fauna were another attraction, along with the action parts.

And the 3D only made it more fun! It's truly a revolution: only family animations had the luxury of 3D. Avatar brings a real change by adding that element in an teen/adult movie, too. It's also very good commercially: the 3D attracts a *big* audience. And since it can't be pirated, it's a formula to success!

The acting was really good, especially Zoe Saldaña. She was tough, but still very sexy. The rookie Sam Worthington did well, too. Michelle Rodriguez was funny as a female ship pilot. And Sigourney Weaver! Few women can get to their 60-years-old as pretty as she was.

I'm sure that Avatar will grab most of the technical Oscar awards this year. And I wouldn't be surprised if it had a place in the main awards as well: after winning the Golden Globes for Best Drama Motion Piture and Best Director, there's a lot of buzz for this film.

The studios were right: there is no way this film could have been done in 1997, when Cameron first came up with the idea, because there wasn't enough level of CGI techniques then. And I admire their work: after spending 4 years in the making of the film, the result was really impressive.

It wasn't brilliant, but it was very good entertainment. Congratulations, Mr. Cameron: you did it again. I guess he is the king of the world now. If he walked into a studio offering a screenplay for a 3D film shot in Mars, they would accept it. And it would still enter the top10 box-office list!

As a movie, I give it a 7. But it's so well done visually that I can't give it less than an 8. So that's my rating.
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>> ZÉ B. [8/10]

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>> iRaphael [7/10]

IMDB link: HERE