All I can say is: James Cameron must really hate America.

Just kidding – couldn’t resist. I’m really pleased that this remarkable movie is doing so well in America because it is surprisingly direct and ballsy in its portrayal of a distinctly “western” approach to life priorities and the overall direction of human civilization, represented in the movie by a characteristically American fusion of military and corporate interests. Let’s face it, that was the American army out there slaughtering those blue people.  We’re the people who say (quoting the movie) “killing indigenous peoples is bad, but it’s not as bad as a bad quarterly report!” We’re the people who say “we’re going to fight terror with terror,” referring to people that are simply resisting being slaughtered by us on their own ground and having their lives ripped apart to satisfy our greed and paranoia. We’re the people who consistently over-react with violence every time something happens that does not fit our pampered, myopic view of the world. And we’re the crazy colonel at the end, killing and killing even thought the battle is lost, just to “take as many with him as he can.” The truth hurts, and the truth has almost ZERO air-time in this country. Avatar, in its own small way, makes a counter-argument to it all. It would be better if it was happening in the mainstream news, but at this point I’m grateful for anything that might wake people up a bit.

Avatar is a very moving story about what humanity has lost by glorifying war, technological “progress” and profit over everything else. It’s like a combination of The Matrix and Dances with Wolves, but way better than both put together. I was surprised at how well-paced the story is, and how well characters are developed, both of which are notorious weak points in this genera. The main character even traverses a pretty convincing developmental arc, unheard of in this kind of film. Sam Worthington gives a really fine performance in the lead role, as does Sigourney Weaver in her supporting role.

Visually the film is stunning. Compare how fantastic everything looks in this film to how bad everything looked in 2012 or The Return of the King, for example. James Cameron may be a dick, but the guy has a real talent for this kind of thing. He appears to be the only one who is really able to pull together these massive visual spectaculars and craft them into something truly memorable. I was amazed at Titanic and I’m amazed at Avatar.

I saw Avatar in 3-D. It was the first 3-D movie I have ever seen. In general, my impression is that 3-D wouldn’t add much to most movies, but I want to mention that this particular movie really benefits from it because of all the scenes flying around the extremely vertical world of the Navi. There are many scenes with characters walking on tree limbs with a drop of thousands of feet beneath them, and they look really incredible in 3-D. It gave me an eye-ache, but it was worth it.

It’s so very refreshing to see a hit movie that’s all about cooperation, compassion, love and respect for life, rather than our usual diet of movies that glorify hate and greed. I have no problem with it winning the Academy Award (if it does), and I highly recommend that you make the effort to see it on the big screen.