Avatar (2009)

Director: James Cameron
Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver
Runtime: 178 minutes (Extended Collector's Edition)

Synopsis: A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

Verdict: I remember once casually looking at a list of the most loathed movies ever made and was surprised to find out that James Cameron’s “Avatar” ranked pretty high in it. The reason - or rather 2.8 billion reasons - is clear as day, though I have a very difficult time getting behind it. Movies should not be defined by their box office success as it is in no way an indicator of their quality, and pretending otherwise only encourages Hollywood to keep pumping out the same calculated content to moviegoers, killing any ounce of creativity left in the industry. I’ve never jumped on the “Avatar” hate train, never complained about the fact that multiple sequels for it are currently in development, and while my latest revisit certainly confirmed my initial thoughts that it was in no way a modern masterpiece, I still managed to find a few qualities that made the 3-hour-long watch at the very least worth it.

Taking place on the fictional planet of Pandora, the blockbuster is first and foremost a lesson in thoroughly thought-off world-building. From the biodiversity of the planet to the customs and traditions of the native Na’vi population, Cameron’s efforts in constructing a believable and gorgeous environment did not go unnoticed and are the main reasons why I’m looking forward to the sequels.

With all that in mind, I wish that this amount of energy was poured into the film’s weakest aspect: its script. The story is one drenched in unsubtle exposition dumps, predictable conveniences, unnecessary and bland narration, and a familiar structure that is void of any originality, weakening the story’s immense stakes tremendously. However, what bothered me most about the narrative was its reliance on the white savior complex trope, a direction that never benefited the story in any way, especially considering how two-dimensional Sam Worthington’s character was.

All in all, “Avatar” is a visually stunning film damaged by its sloppy approach to denounce the horrors of colonization, dangers of the military’s use of advanced scientific inventions, or the American habit of undermining any culture that doesn’t align with their beliefs. Once again, it’s no masterpiece by any means but it remains a solid watch nonetheless.

FINAL GRADE: 6/10