Director James Cameron hasn’t made a feature film since 1997’s Titanic. In the meantime, he’s made some documentaries and produced a couple of television shows. But his big project has been the development of the 3D Fusion Camera, a completely new concept in three-dimensional photography. He developed the camera system specifically to bring AVATAR to the big screen in the way he originally envisioned over 15 years ago. Combined with incredibly sensitive motion-capture computer software and a crew of 1,000 artists and technicians, Cameron invented the technology, which gave him the ability to bring anything that he could envision to the screen. And oh, it was worth the wait.

This is not the things-jumping-out-at-you-so-duck 3D of the cheesy horror films of the 60’s. The added dimension makes the film’s settings lush and rich. There is a real feeling of immersion and depth. Colors are so vivid they thrum. Each layer of scenery is impeccably detailed while retaining its appropriate place in perspective. The gasps from the audience are not from surprise, but from awe and fascination. Cameron has created a beautiful universe.

AVATAR is set on Pandora, home to a native race of humanoid creatures known as the Na’vi. It’s also the only source of the element unobtanium, a mineral that can solve the energy crisis on planet Earth and save the global economy at the same time. The largest deposits of unobtanium lie beneath the most sacred Na’vi places: their massive Hometree headquarters and their spiritual center, the Tree of Souls. Mining corporation SecFor wants to relocate the Na’vi to mine the unobtanium.

To facilitate negotiating this relocation, SecFor hires a team of scientists developing the Avatar program. The avatar technology allows humans to genetically link to cloned Na’vi bodies. A human who is linked to a specific body can control it telepathically; the human-clone pair is known as an avatar. SecFor uses the avatars to attempt a peaceful negotiation with the Na’vi but is this their true plan?

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a wheelchair-bound ex-Marine who is hired to control an avatar to serve as a scout for SecFor. The Avatar program director is Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), who has managed to establish a rapport with the Na’vi in her avatar form. The information that Sully gathers will be used to force the Na’vi from their homeland. Augustine has discovered a mysterious biological interconnectivity between the roots of the plants on Pandora, and realizes that mining activity will destroy this delicately balanced world. As the avatars are assimilated into Na’vi culture, allegiances shift and Sully emerges as a great warrior who may be the Na’vi’s only hope of survival.

Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a Na’vi princess, is charged with teaching Sully the ways of her people. Each Na’vi has a bonding organ used to link to other creatures and plants on a biological level. Neytiri teaches Sully to use this organ to control a pterodactyl-like creature called a banshee, used only by warriors. Sully proves himself worthy of warrior status and falls in love with Neytiri. When SecFor realizes that Sully has embraced the Na’vi culture, they opt for invasion over negotiation. In response, Sully must lead the Na’vi warriors into an epic battle.

Inventing a culture from the ground up is a daunting task. J. R. R. Tolkein devoted a lifetime to the development of the elven culture that permeates the Lord of the Rings series. Director Cameron obviously invested a great deal of time and thought into the Na’vi and their world. The animal creatures are all menacing predators that seem eerily familiar. A couple of species are downright scary. Much of the plant life is responsive to touch and phosphorescent, lending an otherworldly glow to Pandora’s appearance. The lush light-filled natural world works very well as a frame for this story. Cameron worked with Dr. Paul Frommer, a prominent linguist, to develop the Na’vi language. While Tolkein’s elvish was smooth, rhythmic, and almost musical, Na’vi sounds little more than guttural, snarling gibberish. In translation, however, the phraseology is simple and lovely.

The plotline of AVATAR isn’t new. The romance isn’t new. The conflict between oppressed, native people and Big Business isn’t new. Tapping into a pervasive natural force isn’t new, nor is embracing a native, exotic culture in exchange for a more technologically advanced one new. This is a worn, simple story devoid of subtlety that borrows very heavily from other films. Cameron makes some heavy-handed political points and plants obvious symbols directly in front of his audience. There’s no misinterpreting his message. The dialog is stilted and the human characters are flat and stereotypical. The voice actors, notably veteran character actors CCH Pounder and Wes Studi as the Na’vi tribal leaders, are much better performers than the on-screen actors. The exception is Giovanni Ribisi, who brings SecFor director Parker Selfridge to life in a frighteningly evil way, underplaying his greed to great effect. What makes Avatar a must-see is the world in which the story takes place. A meld of great imagination and technical mastery makes Pandora feel like a real place. The computer-generated animals, plants, and Na’vi characters are so richly designed and rendered that they feel absolutely true. Cutting-edge motion-capture software make the Na’vi incredibly expressive and elegant. Avatar is where art meets technology, and the sum is worth much more than its parts.

The sound effects and James Horner’s soundtrack are also exquisite. Horner worked with an ethnomusicologist to develop the Na’vi musical culture and the result is compelling. The music and Na’vi songs enhance the natural forest sounds, blending to enrich but never overwhelm. Expect AVATAR to sweep every technical award offered, including sound, art direction, and special effects. There’s a rather disappointing downside: AVATAR has raised the technical achievement bar so high, effects-heavy films using more traditional technologies will seem pale in comparison. It’s also safe to assume that we will see a rash of low-budget 3D clones in the next few years from film-makers hoping to ride on the coat-tails of AVATAR’s successes.

Head to the theater. Be prepared to ignore AVATAR’s faults and revel in its glories. This is not a film that will translate well to the small screen. See the 3D presentation (it’s also being shown in traditional 2D format) or even better, the 3D Imax treatment. AVATAR is that big. Five stars for the visuals alone.   RETURN TO FILMEDGE'S EARLIER REVIEW OF AVATAR.