There is no denying that Avatar is a technically astounding movie. Writer-director James Cameron has apparently been planning his vision for almost 15 years, and has been given an insane budget to make it become a reality. You can see almost every cent right up there on the screen, especially if you are watching the film in digital 3D. The alien world of Pandora seems to be filled with life in just about every corner of the screen. The planet's inhabitants are the Na'vi - tall, lanky blue-skinned humanoid creatures with cat-like eyes. They've been brought to life with some of the most impressive motion capture work since Gollum in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It's a feast for the eyes, to be sure.

So, then why did this movie fail to grab me? For all of the impressive technical wizardry, Avatar is missing that one crucial ingredient - a compelling script filled with characters we can care about. I was filled with wonder as the characters explored the dense, jungle-like alien world, but the funny thing is I cared about the stuff going on around the characters, not the characters themselves. Maybe I should have seen this coming. In the years that Cameron has been self-promoting his latest sci-fi epic, he has always stressed the visuals, never the script itself. It's just as well. His screenplay seems to be stapled together by the bits and pieces of various other fantasy and ecological films that have come before it. There's not a single original thought, idea, or piece of dialogue in the entire thing. It's a garage sale of bargain basement genre cliches. When you get right down to it, Avatar is a triumph of style over substance.

For many, this will be enough. They will come to see breathtaking visuals, they will get them, and they will go home happy. But, I suspect they will be hard pressed to remember anything but the visuals a week later. Will they remember a single line of dialogue that was uttered? Will they reflect upon a certain character, and their motivation? I am guessing no, as the movie gives us very little motivation to draw on. It is a "good vs. evil" story that is as simple as a children's book, or a Saturday morning cartoon. The Na'vi are a peaceful and primitive alien tribe. They are in tune with nature and the world around them, and share special bonds with the plant life and other animals that inhabit Pandora. They are pure and innocent, and so they are automatically good. There is no real individuality within the race. Everyone thinks, acts, and talks exactly the same. Quite odd to think that while the special effects work make the Na'vi look three dimensional in appearance, they are completely one-dimensional underneath. The main character who represents the race is a Na'vi woman named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana from 2009's Star Trek). She is not so much a character we can attach ourselves to, but rather an exposition device, used to explain to the audience the Na'vi culture and ways. She also exists as a shallow love interest for the human lead, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who spends much of the film in the disguise of a Na'vi, thanks to modern Avatar science.

The world of Pandora is being invaded by the most brutish and violent of races - human beings from Earth (bet you never saw that coming). Because humans can not breathe the air on Pandora, a scientist named Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) has invented a technology where a human can be mentally "linked" to an Avatar Na'vi body that the person controls with their mind. Controlling the Na'vi Avatar, they can freely move about on the world, and mingle with the natives, hoping to peacefully work out an agreement so that the two cultures can live together. Unfortunately, not all of the visitors from Earth share Grace's vision of galactic peace. Many share the views of the bitter Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), a hardened military man who does not trust the Na'vi, and thinks they should be wiped out, so his men can do whatever they please without having to worry about angering the natives. As a villain, Miles never really amounts to much. He snarls, he plots, he manipulates, but there's nothing going on beneath the surface. He's evil and refuses to listen to reason, because the screenplay requires him to be. We don't really learn anything about his motivation, other than the bare necessity that he wants to kill the Na'vi people, for reasons that are never really clear beyond blind hatred.

The emotional drama that is supposed to build never does. We're supposed to be awed as Jake Sully takes his first steps in his Avatar body, since he's paraplegic in his human form. We see him so excited to be able to stand and walk in his Na'vi body that he runs right out of the lab, and continues to run. The scene would be more uplifting if it wasn't so anti-climactic. We are then supposed to become involved as Jake in his Na'vi body is welcomed into the alien culture, and begins to see the world through their eyes. He begins to turn his back on human society, and helps them fight back against his own comrades. This could easily be dramatic stuff, but Cameron's screenplay never develops Jake or anyone into a character we can care about. Aside from some exposition narration at the very beginning, we don't learn anything about Jake, or why he becomes so fascinated with this alien culture. I mean, sure, the sexy blue alien babe probably has something to do with it, but I wanted a little more information. The world of Pandora is such a visually arresting place, it's a shame that more that doesn't happen within it. There is a curious lack of suspense here. We know that Jake will win over the tribal members who are initially suspicious of him, we know that Jake and Neytiri will bond emotionally, we know that Jake will eventually have to fight against the humans he once fought for. There is nothing unexpected to be found here.

I could forgive this if Avatar seemed to have a hint of inspiration to its storytelling and its characters, but all of the inspiration seems to have begun and ended with the visual design. When will Hollywood learn that no matter how beautiful your movie is, you have nothing unless you fill those images with a captivating story or characters? Remembering the movie, I find myself thinking back on the visuals, but can remember nothing of what happened within them. I remember the mythical forests that seem to be alive, and glow with soft white energy from spirits. I remember the giant robot battle suits that the Earth military equips themselves with as they go marching into the forests of Pandora. I remember the majestic flying creature that Jake must tame and train as part of his trials of becoming a respected member of the Na'vi. I remember these visuals, because they actually stand out. The characters interacting with them could have been cardboard cutouts for all this screenplay cares.

Beyond the images, there is no sense of euphoria or joy. One thing I found surprising was the almost total lack of humor. Cameron has always shown a strong sense of humor, and sometimes even the absurd if necessary, in his past epics. Strangely, it is not used here. The movie is deadly serious, and suffers. I wasn't exactly hoping an obnoxious comic relief character would pop up, just a sign that Cameron knew how to have fun with his own material. Instead, he hammers us incessantly with his broad message of ecological respect. I'm all for there being a message in sci-fi films, but the one here is heavy-handed and applied with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. It's yet another example of the script's surprisingly simple minded nature. It thinks we're not clever enough to make the connection, so it has to keep on spelling it out for us.
I find myself in the strange position of not being able to recommend Avatar as a movie, but admitting it should probably be seen at least once for the visuals. As I said, for some, that will be enough. You know if you yourself fall under that category, and if you do, you're bound to have a more positive experience than I did. Anyone who wants something to grasp beyond the images may find themselves in a dire situation, though. Consider this review a warning for those of you looking for a little substance to go with the style.

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