Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

Hugo: Scorsese salutes cinema, childhood in rich adventure

 

“Come and dream with me,” invites Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s first children’s fantasy and tribute to the cinema. Now playing, it’s also the director’s first foray into 3-D.

An adventure filled with wonder and victory over adversity, Hugo stars Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) as an orphan who lives above a Paris train station in the 1930s. The boy faithfully keeps every clock running since the death of his father (Jude Law) and the disappearance of his drunken Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone).

The Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) spies the 12-year-old who lifts croissants and toys. There’s nothing the Inspector likes less than orphans disrupting the bustling terminal. He and his Dalmatian give chase. In one scene, Hugo dangles from the hand of a huge clock to escape capture.

Like a Charles Dickens novel, Hugo is rich with detail, sound and color. Flywheels, gears and gizmos fill the boy’s world. The maze above the station allures and fascinates. From the tower, Hugo can see and hear the grown-ups below. He can go almost anywhere. Alone, he gazes out over Paris rooftops and sees the Eiffel Tower.

Hugo’s heart beats for a steel man called the Automaton. It was his father’s prized possession. If Hugo can find the heart-shaped key to wind it up, the device will spring to life. He’s sure that one last message from his father lies within the gleaming contraption.

Hugo’s adventure really begins when he tries to pinch spare parts from a stern toymaker Pappa Georges (Ben Kingsley). Pappa is so unhappy that you’ll wonder about his secret grief, and want to help. Furious, he seizes Hugo’s precious notebook filled with drawings.

Pappa’s goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz of Diary of a Wimpy Kid) befriends Hugo. Warmth grows as they explore the station and visit a bookshop. One day they talk about movies. Hugo’s father took him to the cinema every week. Isabelle has never seen a movie, she says. Pappa forbids it.

Ambition is good in movies, as is story and fully realized characters. Just when I began to care about Hugo and Isabelle, the focus shifted. The tone changed from drama to slapstick.

Hugo is really two films. A tale of adversity and hope turns into an homage to the cinema. The boy’s story fades into the background. The movie is still magical, but turns too complex for young children.

Impeccable cinematography by Robert Richardson (Inglourious Basterds; Shutter Island) and fabulous sets from Dante Ferretti (Shutter Island; Gangs of New York) create an intricate world of wonder.

The script by The Aviator’s John Logan tries to cover too much. It’s adapted from Brian Selznick’s novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Characters come alive just briefly. A flower girl Lisette (Emily Mortimer) captures the heart of the Inspector. An elderly café patron (Richard Griffiths) woos a woman (Frances de la Tour) with a flighty pet dog. A bookseller Monsieur Labisse (Christopher Lee) gives Hugo a gift.

Mama Jeanne (Helen McCrory) sternly forbids Hugo and Isabelle to speak of Pappa’s past, or to investigate it. This is a clue that his secret must be wonderful indeed.

A film historian (Michael Stuhlbarg of A Serious Man) meets the children. Finally, Pappa Georges and Mama Jeanne can no longer hide the truth.

You’ll see anew pioneering films like the Lumiere Brothers’ 1895 short The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station. Also featured is Georges Melies’ 1902 classic A Trip to the Moon, where a rocket pierces the eye of the Man in the Moon.

CGI is used with whimsy and restraint to enhance these classics. The making of these movies is reenacted. I felt deep appreciation for early films and filmmakers.

Kingsley is masterful as brooding, heartbroken Pappa Georges. Moretz is especially engaging as Isabelle. Butterfield seems lost at times but lives up to his resourceful character. Cohen fascinates as the driven, precise Inspector who becomes a hero.

Scorsese promotes film preservation, a cause he deeply cherishes, in the movie’s second half. As important as this effort is, I’m not sure it belongs in Hugo. I felt startled at one point by a line straight out of a public service announcement: “Time hasn’t been kind to old movies.”

While the 3-D effects are lovely, you’ll need to wear those dark glasses to see them. For some, the darker screen diminishes the joy of watching a kids’ film.

For all its spectacle, the film never shakes a mechanical chill. The story steams along and jumps the track. Like the Automaton, Hugo needed a bit more tinkering. (4 out of 5 stars)

If you like Hugo, you might enjoy:  Super 8; X-Men: First Class; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

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Hugo     2011  /  PG  /  2 hours, 6 min

Cast Overview:  Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Helen McCrory, Christopher Lee, Michael Stuhlbarg, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law 

Director:  Martin Scorsese

Genre:  Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy

 

Cave of Forgotten Dreams ****

 

New wave German filmmaker Werner Herzog reveals a protocinema of Paleolithic drawings in the documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Herzog’s enthusiasm is contagious in this unprecedented filming of Chauvet Cave in southern France. Here Earth’s earliest known drawings, about 32,000 years old, were discovered in 1994.

Cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger’s exquisite 3-D images show horses gallop, and now-extinct cave bears and cave lions stalk the undulating walls glittering with calcite. Woolly mammoths peer back at us. Spotted panthers prowl.

The 3-D camerawork brings viewers more deeply into the cave. Herzog’s offbeat narration and signature metaphysical musings keep the film lively. A sacred feeling is evoked in kinship with the ancients.

Cave bears clawed these walls. Leaving their mark on the drawings, they seem like collaborators. Only a small camera and four small, portable panel lights were allowed. Filmed under strict limitations to protect the delicate ecology, the scenes inspire awe.

Since ancient artists carried torches to provide light, Herzog theorizes that they held these aloft and danced, their shadows moving with the animals in an ancient cinema. Impishly, he shows us a clip of Fred Astaire dancing with his own shadow in Swing Time.             

 

In a striking marriage of science and art, a laser spectroscopy image is shown. Hundreds of thousands of points of light reveal every detail and contour of Chauvet Cave's 1300 feet. Jean Clottes, head of the scientific team studying the cave and its art, shares his excitement and theories.

Europe was a dry, cold glacial land back then. One could journey on foot from England to France and Germany. Dominique Baffier, archaeologist and curator of Chauvet Cave, tours the drawings. Each one tells a story, she believes. Rhinoceros lock horns. Bison run, their multiple legs meant to show movement.

Archaeology Magazine reports that the Chauvet artwork was created 35,000 years ago, and again 5,000 years later. Looking fresh and new, the images have been carbon dated.

Fantastic beauty fills the cave. Stalactites and stalagmites glow. Some formations unfurl like candy ribbon. Others evoke thin, frozen needles of rain.  

In another mystery, only one human form was drawn. On a rock pendant, the bottom half of a woman with Venus of Willendorf proportions appears. The team mounts its camera on a stick to reveal the upper half of the image for the first time. It is a bison head.

Animals and humans shared a common, dreamtime existence then. Trees spoke. Have we forgotten how to listen? The footprint of an eight-year-old is found next to a wolf paw print. Herzog wonders whether they walked side by side.

The cave was used for drawing and ceremony, experts believe. There are no human remains. Animal bones, including cave bear skulls and even a golden eagle skeleton, carpet the floor. A Bear Skull Altar faces the cave’s entrance. Bits of charcoal are strewn about like remnants of incense.

Herzog interviews several odd, passionate spiritual seekers. Reindeer-skin clad Wulf Hein plays The Star-Spangled Banner on an ancient flute made from a vulture’s ulna. Archaeologist Julien Monmey shares a story about an Australian aborigine. When asked why he was painting on rock, the aborigine replied, “I am not painting. The hand of the spirit is painting.”

Marring this beautiful documentary is its obtrusive soundtrack, ill-suited to quiet reverence. When Herzog asks his team to observe silence and listen to the cave, moviegoers listen with them for only a few seconds before the heavy-handed score intrudes. Herzog also invites a master perfumer along, but he is unable to detect much aroma.

Risking his life to uncover mystery and truth in his work, 68-year-old Herzog explored some of the most remote areas of the South Pole in Encounters at the End of the World. In Fitzcarraldo and Grizzly Man, he delved into man’s improbable visions and showed the price for realizing those dreams.

In a surreal coda, we see a nuclear power plant some 20 miles away from Chauvet Cave. Its super-heated water prompted officials to build a tropical biosphere dome there. Alligators were introduced. They thrive, some mutating into a ghoulish white.

Might the reptiles escape one day and invade the Chauvet area, once covered by thousands of feet of ice? Two albino alligators face each other in the waters, teeth bared. Herzog asks whether we are doppelgangers, ghostly doubles of the ancients.

If you like Cave of Forgotten Dreams, you might enjoy: The Wind Journeys; Sanctum.

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Cave of Forgotten Dreams     2010  /  G  /    1 hour, 30 min

Cast Overview:  Werner Herzog, Dominique Baffier, Jean Clottes, Jean-Michel Geneste, Carole Fritz, Gilles Tosello, Michel Philippe, Julien Monney, Charles Fathy 

Director:  Werner Herzog

Genre:  Documentary, Nature, Science, Spirituality

 

Thor ***

 

Norse mythology turns galactic as God of Thunder Chris Hemsworth stars in Thor, a visually stunning film that sets father against son and brother against brother. Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Frankenstein, Hamlet) directs this tale based on the Marvel comic book character.

Thor is prince of the nine realms and the arrogant son of King Odin of Asgard (Anthony Hopkins). His terse younger brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston of Wallander) chafes as Thor is about to be crowned the new king. Just then the Frost Giants invade. Colm Feore plays the menacing Frost Giant King.

Odin banishes Thor (and his mighty hammer) to Earth after the cocky young warrior disobeys him and leads an avenging team to the Ice Planet. Thor must learn respect and humility. “A wise king never seeks out war, but he must always be ready for it,” says Odin.

Hemsworth, who will star in this story’s sequel, The Avengers, lends his awesome screen presence, swoon-worthy physique and booming, mellow voice.

Thor’s love couple seems more like best friends. Best Actress Natalie Portman plays Jane Foster, earth woman and astrophysicist who “grazes” Thor with her SUV twice (ooops!). Portman (who studied psychology and neuroscience at Harvard University) is interesting as a Contact-like physicist who’s OMG bubbly with just a hint of Jodie Foster's gravity. Her research team includes senior scientist Erik (Stellan Starsgard) and Darcy (lively Kat Dennings).

Sky gods continue to live in our religions and mythologies. A Father in heaven is a prevailing idea. The word “Thursday” derives from “Thor’s Day.” Branagh successfully weaves Shakespearean overtones, an intriguing surprise and a double cross as Odin, Thor and Loki do battle.

Hiddleston evokes the dark, tortured Loki with considerable screen time. Exciting Japanese movie star Tadanobu Asano delivers just a few lines as a member of Thor’s team. Asano travels to Earth with Joshua Dallas, Ray Stevenson and Jaimie Alexander to rescue their friend.

Fantastic set design and visual effects treat us to floating kingdoms, stunning space travel, and dramatic use of ice and fire. The 3-D is subtle yet beautiful. A sky bridge connects Asgard to Earth, guarded by the imposing gatekeeper Heimdall (Idris Elba of The Wire).

 

The intersection between human and Divine isn’t fully imagined here. Where’s the vivid possibility and heroism conjured by Superman and Spiderman? If Thor isn’t going to save us from bad guys, what is his role? He seems to be a Starman or Brother from Another Planet without the wisdom. Is this film just a platform for part two?

Thor’s fondness for Jane and her Earth team is unconvincing. Jane is supposed to be the transformative force in Thor’s life, but we don’t see his character develop. He’s a jerk who’s suddenly a hero. Pride and vanity somehow morph into leadership. Thor often seems like two movies, one intergalactic, one pedestrian.

When the Feds swoop in, it seems little more than an excuse to bring back Iron Man’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), and throw in a cameo of future Avengers hero Jeremy Renner.

Chris Evans will star in Captain America: The First Avenger, this summer. Samuel L. Jackson (so excellent as a comic book devotee in Unbreakable), appears after the end credits. Jackson will star as the first black Nick Fury next summer.

Thor tells Jane that “magic and science are one and the same” in his realm. Let’s hope The Avengers will conjure more of that magic on Earth.

If you like Thor, you might enjoy:  The Eagle; X-Men: First Class; Captain America: The First Avenger.

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Thor     2011  /  PG-13  /  2 hours 10 min

Cast Overview:  Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Starsgard, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Clark Gregg, Jaimie Alexander, Tadanobu Asano, Joshua Dallas

Director:  Kenneth Branagh

Genre:  Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

 

Born to Be Wild 3D ****

 

Humans and wild animals live together as equals in few places on earth. One such place is the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Kenya, where wildlife authority Dame Daphne Sheldrick nurtures baby elephants left behind by ivory poachers.  Another is Camp Leakey in Borneo, where primatologist Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas cares for orangutans left homeless and motherless by rainforest deforestation.

In honor of Earth Week 2011, Warner Brothers has released the Imax nature documentary Born to Be Wild 3D.

There’s much here to make us smile and to fascinate children and adults. One of the best scenes in Born to Be Wild shows wild adult elephants visiting young orphans at Voi Elephant Relocation Center, a halfway point in their return to the wild. “You’re one of us. We love you,” says narrator Morgan Freeman about the moment. The film tugs on our hearts without becoming cloying.  

The goal is to reintroduce the animals to the wild when they are ready. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust helps fund Sheldrick’s research and activities in Nairobi and Tsavo National Park. Sheldrick was married to the late conservationist David Sheldrick. Galdikas founded OFI (Orangutan Foundation Interational) which funds her center operating within Tanjung Puting National Park.

Both women use human surrogates – chosen by the animals themselves, we are told – to nurture the young creatures. Since they are social beings, elephants and orangutans sleep with humans each night. It took Sheldrick years to develop a special milk formula that baby elephants thrive on.  Hugging and kissing her charges, Galdikas notices childlike innocence in the orangutans and likens the Bornean rainforest to the Garden of Eden.

 

The dangers of close interaction with wild animals are not mentioned, although we are shown one newly rescued elephant thrashing and charging. The two women form “real friendships” with the animals. Grown orangutans are shown returning to Camp Leakey for a visit.

Freeman, 73, narrates in rich, grandfatherly tones. The actor will star in Christopher Nolan’s third batman film The Dark Knight Rises, scheduled for release in July 2012.

Nothing can replace a direct experience of nature, but beautiful cinematography by David Douglas seems the next best thing. The film's website offers educators free lesson ideas and activities suitable for grades 3-5. 

If you like Born to Be Wild, you might enjoy: The Last Lions; The Cove.

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Born to Be Wild 3D   2011  /  G  /  45 mins

Cast Overview: Morgan Freeman (Narrator); Dame Daphne Sheldrick; Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas

Director:  David Lickley

Genre:  Nature, Documentary, Animal Rights

 

Sucker Punch **

 

Emily Browning fights back in the violent, psychosexual teen odyssey Sucker Punch.  

Wrongly imprisoned in an insane asylum, Babydoll is the hero who convinces four other inmates to overcome their fears and escape with her. 

Babydoll is betrayed by her evil stepfather (Gerard Plunkett). To save her sister Babydoll shot – but didn’t kill – the Stepfather, who had already killed the sister. He checks her into the asylum.

Police are scheduled to investigate, but evil orderly Blue Jones (intense Oscar Isaacs) promises to bribe them.

The asylum is plenty creepy and way illegal. Blue rules the criminal enterprise where his girls perform exotic dances for prominent criminals such as the mayor.

Wise Man (Scott Glenn) instructs Babydoll to use her mind to change her life.  She must obtain five items to secure their release: a map, fire, a knife, a key, and a mystery.

A macabre dance musical within a nightmare, Sucker Punch is filled with game-like battle scenes that evoke comic bookish, 1950’s noir.

Nazi zombies, cyborgs and dragons threaten in different chapters of the film. With endless battle scenes, there is no real progress in the plot. A mishmash of images and pop metaphors engineers confusion.

A Matrix-wannabe, the film exploits women as high-heeled, mini-skirted actors blast and shoot their way through four different tests of character.

The choreography is good. The escapees display superhuman powers amidst Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-like special effects.

Ear drum drilling music is drawn from Annie Lennox, the Eurythmics, Jefferson Airplane and Queen.

 

Rounding out the escape team are Rocket (Jena Malone, solid here), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Sweet Pea (talented Abbie Cornish with a good performance), and Amber (Jamie Chung).

Glenn is quite good as he lends gravitas, enigma and humor. A shape shifter and time traveler, he booms out corny, homespun wisdom. “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” 

Dr. Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino), a psychiatrist with a comically thick Polish accent, is conflicted. Part mother, part exploiter, she too is dominated by Blue.

Jon Hamm’s talents are wasted in his brief appearance as High Roller, a lobotomist with a conscience.

While the film could encourage youth at risk, its violence gives a warped view of real personal power. It’s all fight. Loving oneself and others is an afterthought.

Director Zack Snyder (300; Dawn of the Dead) is set to direct Superman: Man of Steel.

If you like Sucker Punch, you might enjoy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Black Swan; The Runaways.

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Sucker Punch  2011  /  PG-13  /  2 Hours

Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn

Director:  Zack Snyder

Genre:  Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime

Limitless ****

 

Imagine getting literally everything you want, a life of ease and power with the world at your command. Bradley Cooper wins love, money and success – for a price – in the fast-paced mind-bender Limitless.    

It happens to struggling writer Eddie Morra (Cooper) one day when he bumps into his former brother-in-law and hears about a designer drug called NZT. Vernon (Johnny Whitworth) gives him a free sample, along with his business card.

Eddie is an ex-junkie, but it doesn’t take long for the bedraggled, down-on-his luck dude to pop the clear disc into his mouth. Nothing is ever the same.

Director Neil Burger (Interview With the Assassin; The Illusionist), known for his meticulous plotting, doesn’t disappoint.  Eddie’s girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) breaks up with him. His editor has been waiting months for a manuscript. The bills are piling high.    

The drug opens a door for Eddie.  His mind is unlocked. Everything becomes clear. Colors brighten. Senses sharpen. Innate abilities surge.

Overnight, Eddie almost completes the novel.  His editor begs for more. Now he can zoom through Manhattan, knowing where he’s going, meeting the right people, connecting every dot.

A super-everyman, Eddie is able to speed read and access a photographic memory.  He learns to speak French, Italian and Mandarin – in days. His hair is styled now, and his trendy suits are fitted.  Lindy notices and decides to see him again.

Cinematographer Jo Willems uses double fish eye lenses to enhance Eddie’s viewpoint as he zips along. The crowds part for him as they would for a king. His leaps and bounds are physical as well as mental.

The downside? Eddie needs more of the drug. The wonder boy seeks out Vernon.  He must borrow from a Russian loan shark (Andrew Howard) to buy enough. Eddie gets his paper bag of money with a warning. Then he finds Vernon with a bullet through his head.

Cooper is terrific as the hero keeps it going.  NZT’s side effects prove deadly for those who are hooked.  The desperate are willing to kill to steal Eddie’s stash.

 

Next Eddie gets entangled with corporate titan Carl Van Loon (commanding Robert De Niro), who showers Eddie with millions as long as he can exploit his visionary ideas on the stock market.

This stylish intrigue captures our imaginations. It warns about prescription drug mania.  It shows the price to be paid for voracious greed.

The upside? We get to see a mere mortal achieve transcendence – and maintain it.

Limitless has been called an Inception for the rest of us. A bit slow early with distracting voiceovers, the thriller takes off when Eddie meets Vernon.

Leslie Dixon adapted the smart screenplay from Alan Glynn’s novel The Dark Fields.

Cooper's real-life breakup with Renee Zellweger, according to published reports,  is attributed to how hard he worked to achieve mega-success in The Hangover and Limitless.

If you like Limitless, you might enjoy: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Inception; The Adjustment Bureau.

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Limitless  2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 45 min

Cast:  Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro, Anna Friel, Johnny Whitworth, Andrew Howard

Director:  Neil Burger

Genre:  Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Crime

Sanctum ****

 

In the underwater cave-diving adventure Sanctum, a father and son forgive and respect each other in the scariest, least explored cave on earth.

The film features image-acquisition 3-D technology that made executive producer James Cameron famous for Avatar. As 3-D movie technology continues to develop, Cameron’s digital clarity is the good stuff.

Director Alister Grierson and cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin achieve subtle and lifelike effects and occasional excellence.  Several deep sea scenes, including one of divers hovering in the light-filled water of St. Jude’s Cathedral, are worth the price of 3-D admission.

Despite poorly written dialogue, Sanctum manages to thrill with treacherous dives, rappels and crawls through underwater caves and ravines. The film was shot on location in Queensland, Australia and in studio.

Richard Roxburgh as world-renowned, cantankerous explorer Frank McGuire delivers the strongest performance. His is a mixture of ego and insatiable curiosity. Rhys Wakefield plays his teenage son Josh in a long fit of petulance. Luckily Wakefield calms down as the expedition continues and shows he has acting chops after all.

When a storm becomes a cyclone, flash floods cut the group off from a safe exit. They are forced to travel downward through a labyrinth and “follow the river” in the hope of swimming out to sea on the other side.

 

Death arrives for the divers one by one.  Supplies dwindle. Just as dangerous as the terrain is their acute stress. Victoria (Alice Parkinson) refuses to don the thermal suit of a deceased diver. Wealthy Carl (Ioan Gruffudd), who sponsors Frank’s expeditions and has brought Victoria along for the trip, approaches madness. Dan Wyllie gives a quirky, funny performance as expedition coordinator Crazy George.

Cameron, along with producer and writer Andrew Wight, are avid divers.  The story was inspired by Wight’s experience during a hazardous excursion.

David Hirschfelder wrote Sanctum’s stirring score.

Frank moves by intuition, and knows how to read the signs of nature.  Josh begins to learn from him, and to understand why he left home years ago.

“Why caves?” Josh asks his father.  “It’s like my church,” Frank replies. “I can hold a mirror up and say this is who I am.” 

If you like Sanctum, you might enjoy: 127 Hours; Cave of Forgotten Dreams; The Cove.

Sanctum  2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 49 min

Cast Overview:  Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhys Wakefield, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wyllie, Christopher Baker, John Garvin

Director:  Alister Grierson

Genres:  Action, Adventure, Drama

Avatar *****

 

The awe is back. Avatar, the Oscar-winning sci-fi fantasy thriller from director James Cameron, transforms science fiction cinema.

Impressive 3D technologies and motion capture techniques keep audiences spellbound for two and a half hours, after which they leave theaters feeling 10 feet tall.

Avatar immerses us in heaven (a phosphorescent land of brilliant orange flowers, shimmering trees and floating jellyfish) and hell (fierce, flying dragons and massive rhino-like Hammerheads). Over 500 plants and creatures appear.

Avatar's reverence for nature, with its theme of oneness and unity, reaches across time and culture. Indigenous wisdom here turns out to be quite advanced. Thus Avatar surpasses The Matrix and Star Wars, along with Cameron's previous films Titanic, The Terminator and Aliens.

Over 2,000 people worked for three years on Avatar, with a budget approaching $300 million. Cameron first envisioned the masterpiece 15 years ago, but had to wait for computer technology to catch up.

Strong, quiet hero Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic ex-Marine has been asked to become an avatar, a genetically grown being resembling the Na'vi who inhabit planet Pandora.

The Na'vi are exquisitely blue with silver-white speckles, golden cat-like eyes and moving ears. They are slender, sport long tails and stand 10 feet tall. Jake is to mingle with the Na'vi as a spy. He is ordered to sway them to allow strip mining of a precious metal (unobtainium).

The Na'vi live within a huge tree that sits right over a rich deposit. Col. Miles Quaritch (gung-ho Stephen Lang) and his mercenaries seek to expel the Na'vi for a corporation that funds the scientific research of Dr. Grace Augustine (always superb Sigourney Weaver).

After some personality conflicts and information-filled dialogue, the film alights as Jake lies down in his Matrix-like pod. Here his mind controls a handsome, new avatar that in effect allows Jake to walk again.

With terrifying CGI creatures in pursuit, Jake is separated from a scouting party. Soon he's rescued by noble Neytiri (graceful Zoe Saldana). Neytiri is the daughter of Eytukan (Wes Studi) and the shaman Moat (CCH Pounder).

 

Neytiri scorns the alien Jake. "You have a strong heart, no fear, but stupid." Since she has received a sign from the Atokirina, delicate floating spores with pure hearts, Jake's fate is to be decided by Eytukan.

Jake is trained to become one with the Na'vi. Before long he's leading their efforts to resist the aliens he once worked for.

In one of the best scenes of the film, Jake tames a flying dragon who becomes his ally. Also stirring is the extended shock and awe battle as Quaritch makes his last stand against Jake and the Na'vi.

Avatar catapults Worthington (Clash of the Titans) and Soldana (Star Trek [2009]) into stardom. Weaver worked for Cameron previously as the heroine of Aliens. Giovanni Ribisi (Lost in Translation) is excellent as a murderous corporate lackey.

Avatar won Oscars for Art Direction, Cinematography and Special Effects.

If you like Avatar, you might enjoy: Inception; Hereafter; 127 Hours.

Avatar 2009 / PG-13 / 2 hrs, 30 min

Cast Overview: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang, Joel Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi

Director: James Cameron

Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Action, Sci-Fi Adventure