Avatar : a magical journey

I can sum this review up in one line actually.

Get off your seat, find out the nearest theatre where Avatar is playing in 3D ( adjacent cities, included ) and go get your tickets.

The actual review :

There were a lot of reservations when news of this movie started filtering in.

People were put off saying it was all graphics. They asked "why do we need to see blue aliens when we have Jadoo from 'Koi Mil Gaya'( I'm not kidding - I really had to answer that one. ) Who was this 'Sam Worthington' actor? Why couldn't they get some famous actors ? My own doubts existed - Could the latest in cinematographic technology and an over 250 million dollar budget ensure a hit film ? I'll come to that last one later.

Avatar is a story based in the future where mankind has found a new energy source, in the form of a mineral, growing amongst the flora of a distant moon/planet "Pandora". Attempts to mine it have been unsuccessful owing to the presence of '10 foot long blue primitive savages' who don't appreciate humans destroying the land with which they share a holistic bond. 2 factions work to attain a solution - one itching to eradicate the 'savages', while the other aims to befriend these 'peaceful spiritual creatures' by using mentally operated cloned versions that look like the Na'vi themselves and can survive in the planet's atmosphere - called Avatars.

The protagonist, Sam Wothington as Jake Sully, a crippled marine gets a chance at using these Avatars when his twin brother dies and much to the dismay of the creator of these Avatars ( Sigourney Weaver in a well cast role ) actually becomes closer to the tribesmen than anyone else before him. What she doesn't know is that Sully is also working a deal with the military faction, looking for weaknessess in the Navi which can be used to defeat them, when war is eventually declared. All is going according to plan for him... till he befriends the daughter of the clan leader, learns the way of the Na'vi, falls in love and eventually realises what his real priorities are.

The first scene which you see in 3D alone captures your visual senses. And James Cameron doesn't allow you to relax your stunned expression from there on in. The planet is easily the most gorgeous habitat I have ever seen and as Sully learns the rituals of the Na'vi, we get ample opportunities to walk through the fantastic fauna and flora and befriend the creatures there. The attention to detail is astounding and unmatched with even the burning ashes flickering through on 3D.

But even without it, the film is bound to be a winner, even with the 'David vs Goliath' tale it seeks to tell. There are small servings of 'religious beliefs', 'the power of mother nature' and even a play on one of the most infamous 'war strategies of the decade', all interspersed in between. The action sequences at the end as the inhabitants come under attack are truly amazing and really have you rooting for good to triumph over evil, for the Na'vi armed with bows and arrows to somehow defeat the planes and missiles of the humans, though you wonder how.

Performances are par for course, with most of the facial expressions peering through even the blue skins of the aliens. Zoe Saldana as the princess,Neytiri, will feel sad we didn't get to see her real face but it's a very realistic performance of a woman in love with both her tribe and her man. Sam Worthington will probably never get more famous than this ever again.. this is to him what Titanic was to Di Caprio. How he utilises this fame from here on in is worth watching.

So can the latest cameras and 250 million ensure a hit film ? Most definitely.

This is a must watch film in all it's 3D splendour. Why ?

So that 20 years down the line, you can still tell tales to your kids of the visual spectacle that director James Cameron so painstakingly created for us all back in 2009 that made the art of watching a movie on the big screen magical again for the first time in over 8 decades.