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A Reel Life film section

Issue: Summer, 2010

Avatar (2009) movie review

Alien Alterego

space

On the alien world of Pandora, crippled ex-Marine Jake finds his legs and soul when he drives a linked 'avatar' body and is taken on by a tribe who aim to 'fill his emptiness'.

Using a combination of live action and computer animation, veteran action/science fiction writer and director James Cameron tells a futuristic story set on a far-off planet.

The story is very familiar - the military and corporate human interests are at odds with the scientific expedition, and all of them threaten the environment and the native way of life.

All energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back.

Movie poster, Avatar; Festivale film review; 220x325

Movie poster, Avatar
Enter the World

It's a bit Pocahontas meets Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders with a big dose of classic science fiction thrown in, more likely to charm those without a lot of exposure to the genre.

Avatar takes advantage of contemporary cinematic technical story-telling and while it lacks freshness, it has a beginning, a middle, an end, and a point. How effective these are is for the audience to say.

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by Ali Kayn
Due for Australian release 17 December 2009
For credits and official site details, see below
Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below.

See also: James Cameron also wrote Titanic;

Just the facts:

Title: Avatar (2009)
Written by: James Cameron
Directed by: James Cameron

Running time: 162 mins
Rating: M

The Players: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Sam Worthington, Michelle Rodriguez, CCH Pounder,

Official website:
IMDb entry

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