So...Avatar...

Avatar (C+) Meh, it was okay. Took me out of myself for three hours. (Geddit? Haw!) I went in wanting to hate this movie, 'cuz I'm such a non-conformist, dontya know, but I really couldn't. It's too well-crafted and expertly paced. And I was really impressed by the CGI. On the other hand, I can't really rave about this movie because, let's face it, 'Company Man Goes Rogue' is as over used a story trope as 'Kiss Me Quick, For I'm Dying'.

If you know anything about how CGI is made, the special effects are really impressive. In fact, I'd say that the staff at WETA have essentially solved the problem of the 'Uncanny Valley' in terms of CGI. You're not distracted by the clunkiness you usually see in CG characters, so you can relax and enjoy the story. The world of Pandora, though it seems like Roger Dean, he of the Yes and Asia album covers, was lead designer, looks like a genuine location.

Now, herein lies the problem. There's been so much work and so much thought put in behind the scenes at making this movie, that the movie itself is ultimately, well...meh. Haven't we seen this movie over and over and over again? Dances With Wolves, Pocohontas, The Last Samurai... the list goes on and on. All the characters have exactly one basic trait, pounded into us over and over. The military guy is just itching to wipe the Navi from the face of the planet, the scientists all act like excited little kids when the avatars come to life, the Navi themselves are straight out of 50's westerns central casting. (With a touch of blue paint.)

And lead actor Sam Worthington. I'm sure he's a nice guy in real life, but, well, I've seen him in two movies now (where he's the same character-a company man who goes native-think about it when you watch Terminator-Salvation.) and he seems to come from the Keanu Reeves school of acting. In fact, you know what? Worthington's not an actor, not in the usual sense. He's more of an Acting Technician, like Reeves. Let me elaborate.

There's always been a substrata of the entertainment industry where the mechanism is set up so the film is essentially idiot-proof, particularly where acting is concerned. All the person has to do is show up, hit their marks, repeat the lines that they've been memorized, and make a frowny face where appropriate, or look off over the camera's left side to indicate their character is facing a serious moral dilemma. (Megan Fox, Hayden Christensen, most kid actors, I'm looking at you...) What they're doing isn't acting, it's being a prop with a rudimentary nervous system.

In fact, you wouldn't want a real actor for a movie like this. Notice how in the execrable Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the performances of Jude Law, Gwyenth Paltrow and Micheal Gambon are so flattened out. In the case of people like Worthington and Reeves, you'll notice how their dialogue in Avatar and the Matrix film is expository in nature. ("That's a BIG tree", exclaims Worthington after we are given a massive tilt shot revealing the giant tree where the Navi live, to an oppressive soundtrack. You know, in case we had missed the point...)

Maybe that's the fundamental flaw with this type of contemporary blockbuster. Since nothing is left to chance, the movie is not directed or written, as much as it's designed. Like a roller coaster or a Coke advertisement. All flaws are carefully poly filled in, but any quirks or happy accidents wind up getting buffed out as well. At the end of the day, it's a thing designed to be liked, so you go in, pay your fifteen bucks, (or more if you're seeing the IMAX version...) and it's not the worst three hours you've spent at the movies. But it's not the best, either.

Oh, before I forget, the 3-d effect does nothing for me, personally. Honestly, I found it more than a little distracting at times, and the reason it was a short-lived gimmick in the fifties is the same reason it's going to be a short-lived gimmick now. It does nothing to enhance the pleasure in a good movie, or an okay movie like Avatar. Conversely, it will not save a bad movie. So if for no other reason than for sheer economics-no theater chain is going to spend more money converting its theaters to showing 3d films than it has to- I predict the 3d novelty will run its course by about the time Tron Legacy hits theaters this December.

(P.s. The photo above is of James Cameron mock-strangling his ex-wife and Best Oscar winner Kathyn Bigelow at the awards ceremony. Just FYI.)