Avatar


 * __Avatar (2009) __**
 * __Casey Fitzgerald __**

  After an almost 10 year hiatus, director James Cameron ( Titanic, Terminator 1 & 2 ) is back with a mind blowing fantasy epic that will leave your jaw dropped. The story kicks off with an introduction to local maverick Jake Sulley ( Sam Worthington ), a paraplegic war veteran with a knack for thrill seeking. A perfect candidate for classic rebel. Waking from years of cryo-sleep, Jake learns the unfortunate fate of his brainy twin brother and is requested to replace him as an avatar operator on the lush, utopian moon of Pandora. Pandora is inhabited with the Na'vi, 10' tall sentient humanoids who are blue and have long tails, whose "Home Tree" rest on a cache of the extremely valuable mineral Unobtanium. The MacGuffin, if you will, of the human mining corporation led by the money crazed Parker Selfridge ( Giovanni Ribisi ).

Wary of Jake Sulley's ability to emulate his twin brothers knowledge and skill, Dr. Grace Augustine ( Siguorney Weaver ), head of the avatar program, designates Jake as bodyguard for the time being. Inevitably, during what was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission, things go wrong and the group gets separated, trapping Jake in his Na'vi avatar. Whilst trying to escape the dangers of Pandora's endless jungle, he is rescued by a local Na'vi named Neytiri ( Zoe Saldana ), who takes Jake to her Home Tree and introduces him to the family. Sparks fly between Jake and Ney'tiri as she tries to show him the ways of her tribe, and Jake must make the dificult decision of choosing between a fake world that feels real and a real world that feels like torture.

Computer graphic technology is pushed to the extreme limit in Avatar. This movie is, visually, one of a kind and the most advanced when it comes to CGI animation, and the implementation of 3D capability really made the movie even that much better. And what better to compliment a beautiful movie? A beautiful score. American composer James Horner did an excellent job conveying the mood of each scene through unique, dramatic musical sequences. I personally thought that this movie was the best of its kind since Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith back in 2005. Never since then has a movie really immersed me in a fantasy universe better than Avatar. Anyone who's looking for that rich, original feel of a fantasy setting should look no further and go see Avatar in 3D.