Today, 16 years ago, James Camaron relesed his revolutionary masterpiece Avatar, forever changing the world of Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) by introducing viewers to the moon of Pandora. Featuring a critically acclaimed art direction and cinematography, the film took the world by storm. But with Avatar: Fire and Ash just around the corner, how much does the original Avatar hold up?
Set in 2154, Avatar features a future where Earth has undergone ecological collapse and is suffering from resource exhaustion. Humanity is now dependant on the mineral unobtainium found only on the moon of Pandora in Alpha Centauri. However, mining on the planet threatens the local inhabitants, the Na’vi. To explore Pandora, Earth uses humans who remotely control genetically engineered Na’vi to interact with them called “Avatar”.
Despite it’s age, the film still looks beautiful. The graphics, CGI and motion capture still hold up very well, yet there is still a certain uncannyness to the faces of the Na’vi, though this may differ from person to person. Ofcourse, the film was a technological achievement so this makes sense.
The story on the other hand, is fairly average. While the feeling of exploring an alien land never goes away the film’s story is predictable at times often to it’s detriment. The actor’s performences however are still very good.
The film’s soundtrack, scored by James Horner, perfectly captures the wonderous and scenic environments of Pandora while underscoring the destruction of the local ecosystem by humanity.
All in all, Avatar is a movie which, despite it’s pitfalls and mediocre story, still stands strong as one of the greatest achievements in cinematic history.
