Avatar 3-D

This is the movie of the decade. James Cameron's comeback, twelve years after directing the highest grossing film of all time, and boy, is it the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. "Avatar" is the most hyped and expensive movie to date (estimates put the cost at about half a billion) and it delivers on every promise that Cameron made. I can only hope that it makes a profit so Cameron can get started on a sequel.

Some undetermined amount of years in the future, humans have discovered another planet called Pandora. It's a jungle planet full of wild animals that have an unusual amount of very sharp teeth. Pandora is also home to a race of ten-foot-tall cat people called the Na'vi. Imagine a regular person, make him realy tall, color him blue with blue tiger stripes, give him cat-like features, and then give him a ponytail that has tentacles in it (I'll explain later). The humans, not government-controlled, mind you, but corporation-controlled, have found a certain substance called unobtanium (the least creative part of the movie - what kind of name is that?) which is incredibly valuable back on Earth. Sadly, the mineral they want occurs in very high amounts underneath the Na'vi's home, a giant tree.

This is where the title of the movie comes in. The Avatar program allows humans to sit in MRI machines and wake up inside a Na'vi that the company grew specifically for them. They are meant to go out and communicate with the natives and eventually convince them to move away from their home so the company can start digging. This is the backstory that has to be gleaned out of the first 13 hours of the movie (it is a long movie, not meant for those with weak bladders i.e. me). The movie is told through the point of view of ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), whose brother was the next candidate for an avatar. His brother was killed by a mugger back on Earth, so the company chooses Jake to replace him, since his genetics were compatible with the Na'vi they grew for his brother (they're twins). Jake, in his avatar body, comes into contact with the Na'vi, and becomes the "chosen one." The Na'vi train him to be like them. Jake learns that the ponytail tentacles of the Na'vi connect to the animals of the world, binding them one to the other. Everything on Pandora is connected by Pandora's version of Gaia, called Eywa .The Na'vi begin to trust him as one of their own and he becomes the company's only hope for a diplomatic solution. Jake soon discovers he has more in common with the Na'vi than his own kind.

Do you remember that dream, that seemed so utterly real that you were sure it was reality, for even just a brief moment? "Avatar" was James Camerons dream. It was the daydream that he acted out with his toys and that Hollywood allowed him to create. More importantly, it became Jake Sully's dream. Sully is a paraplegic and every time he enters his avatar, he has that feeling of freedom again, freedom of life, freedom of movement. This is the dream that when you woke up you cried a little because it wasn't real, but for that brief moment, it was.

The visuals in this movie will blow you away. I was lucky enough to see it in 3-D and if you don't want to fork over the extra cash for that, shame on you. Every animal is brilliantly realized, every plant, and every Na'vi. I can openly admit that without the visuals, this movie would be an hour too long, but every second I was on Pandora, I believed it was real. My mind wanted me to think I was bored but my eyes were too busy taking in all the sights to care.

You may see a Best Picture nod for "Avatar." It's not going to win it though. Without a doubt, it will win the Best Visuals award, maybe even Best Director. The cast is largly newcomers (Sam Worthington only breaking into American cinema with "Terminator: Salvation" earlier this year). They do well, but look for Sigourney Weaver's trademark tough girl and the antagonist Stephen Lang's native hating Colonel Quaritch.

This movie is the biggest thing I have ever seen and is as close as you can come to the word "epic." The final battle reminded me of my childhood, where I had huge wars with my action figures and I always wanted to see something on that scale in the movies. Well, here it is. This is that movie. Get out your $13.50, go to the bathroom before it starts, and prepare for the greatest adventure you could ever dream of.

3 and a half out of four stars

-Christopher O'Connell