It's Judgment Day for Cameron and Co.

Avatar

*** out of ****

Directed by: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi

Running time: 162 minutes

I wonder what it would've been like to experience the original Star Wars in a crowded auditorium during its opening weekend, back in May 1977. Regardless, seeing James Cameron’s newest sci-fi epic may be as close as I ever get.

Avatar is a titanic cinematic achievement, an exhilarating and visually splendid triumph that ricochets the bar of what can be done with computer-generated technology to heights that may not – sorry, that will not – go unsurpassed for years to come.

We are transported to the year 2154, to the planet of Pandora. An indigenous species with sparkling blue skin and tails called the Na’vi populate the lush, mountainous region, living harmoniously. They are not alone.

An American corporation is located many kilometers away, planning to colonize the land, relocate the “savages,” and dig up a precious mineral called “unobtanium” from beneath the Na’vi’s sacred ground in exchange for billions in profit.

Meanwhile, a team of human researchers, led by the snappy Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), have genetically created figures known as Avatars, a blend of human and Na’vi DNA. Her crew hopes to learn about the tribe by interacting with them and having the ability to breathe Pandora's toxic air.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic ex-Marine arrives on Pandora to take his dead brother’s spot in the Avatar Program. He is compatible with the program due to sharing his brother’s genome, but has no knowledge of the Na'vi's language, customs or lifestyle.

During his first experience in his Avatar, Jake is chased by a treacherous creature deep into the jungle. Later that night, he is heroically saved from dog-like carnivores by a female Na’vi warrior named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Neytiri brings Sully back to Hometree, the central Na'vi base, and introduces him to her people. They decide to integrate him into their tribe.

Meanwhile, the authorities back at the base, such as Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), are convinced that Jake’s close involvement with the Na’vi will allow the Americans to gain their trust and make them move from Hometree. Yet, Sully's Avatar develops stronger ties with his Na’vi brethren, especially the beautiful, mysterious Neytiri.

Avatar has been in development for over fifteen years. Cameron held off on making the film until he believed the technology was ready to create synthetic, computer-generated performances. When Peter Jackson revolutionized motion-capture technology through a vicious creepster named Gollum, Cameron believed he was ready to take helm of this ambitious production.

Alas, Cameron, Weta Workshop (responsible for the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and a plethora of other digital-effects collaborators threw everything including the kitchen sink at Avatar, and ended up with a visual feast.

Pandora is a stunning planet featuring cascading waterfalls without end, a mountain range floating in the sky, and gourgeous winged beasts – immersed in a vibrant palette of colours – that soar through the air.

This is fantasy, ladies and gentlemen, in the most imaginative, dazzling and enchanting use of the word.

While the rich, tropical planet is eye-popping, the flat dialogue and hammed-up American mercenary archetypes are better equipped at making eyes roll. It’s a shame that with a reported $250,000,000 budget, Cameron couldn’t fit in a fee to hire a screenwriter who could elevate the oh-so-predictable story and rewrite the corny dialogue.

(Perhaps he should've borrowed a hand from his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, whose 2009 film The Hurt Locker was praised for its authenticity and gripping wartime action sequences.)

The two central antagonists, Stephen Lang’s beefed-up Col. Quaritch and Giovanni Ribisi’s administrative Parker Selfridge, are painfully banal annoyances.

Col. Quaritch promises to annihilate the Na’vi by using “shock and awe” techniques and “fighting terror with terror.” These Iraq War parallels are delivered with such gusto, a class of kindergartners would catch them. Maybe Cameron is desperate for overseas profits, since the Ontario-born filmmaker piles on the brash, war-hungry stereotypes that give Americans a bad name.

Moreover, the love story between Sully and Neytiri seems as artificial as the computer-generated images. Their romance is unconvincing – they can’t stand each other for the majority of the feature – and hugely underdeveloped. At some points, their relationship feels like it was added as a mere afterthought.

Even bashers of Cameron’s Titanic would be hard-pressed to deny the power of that film’s romance; here, there is little emotional resonance at all.

While elements of Avatar are entirely one-dimensional, what is seen in three dimensions is absolutely awe-inspiring.

The film is, by no means, a masterpiece. But as a breathlessly exciting and magnificently rendered achievement from Hollywood’s most revolutionary virtuoso of science-fiction cinema, it’s simply unmissable.