Quick Review: Avatar

Except for his participation in a couple of documentaries, "Avatar" marks writer-director James Cameron's first effort since "Titanic." It's the future, and humans are in the midst of trying to mine a distant planet called Pandora for a substance called unobtainium. (When I heard that word my eyes were rolling. I thought it was something they came up with for this movie, but there's actually a Wikipedia page about the word.) They meet resistance from the natives, the NaVi, who are blue-skinned, maybe ten feet tall and sort of look like a combination of people and cats. Since humans cannot breathe in Pandora's atmosphere, "avatars" -- hybrids created with human and NaVi genes, controlled by people using some sort of mind-link -- are used to explore.

Naturally, the scientific component of the mission (led by Sigourney Weaver) is at odds with the combo corporate-military component (Stephen Lang as the corporal in charge of security and Giovanni Ribisi as the  corporate honcho). Jake Scully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine whose DNA is compatible with the avatar of his deceased twin brother, is caught between the humans and the NaVi when, while controlling his avatar, he learns the ways of the natives with the help of a female NaVi, and develops feelings for her.

Most of the hype has centered around the advances in computer-generated filming technology that Cameron says finally allowed "Avatar" to be made. It cost a lot of money to create, and the 3D version I saw certainly looks impressive. I'd bet the non-3D version doesn't look bad, either. My problem is, there's this little thing called a script, and it needs work. Some of the hokey dialogue needs to go, the characters need to be a little more nuanced, and the plot needs to be a little less obvious. Also, the closing credits feature a song by Leona Lewis, which is so clearly a second cousin to Celine Dion's "Titanic" hit that it's painful. My grade: C-plus.

Sam Worthington is nice to look at, though, when he's not all blue and dragging a tail.