Avatar is what going to the movies is all about. Cinema was created to entertain audiences, express one’s self, and escape from reality. Avatar does all three in just 163 minutes. As most Science Fiction films try so hard to be grounded in reality, Cameron lifts you up in the air and glides you through an unbelievable yet beautiful world of Pandora. Describing Pandora is like describing the Garden of Eden to a blind man. You’d have to see the film to truly appreciate its beauty. James Cameron wasn’t lying or exaggerating when he said “you’ve never seen anything like this before”. Pandora’s world isn’t only just full of color and pretty creatures, it’s full of life, soul and in some way love. There’s something about Pandora that feels so unifying that if you yourself were there, you’d never want to leave.

The best part about Cameron’s world of Pandora is not only the visual spectacle that everyone is talking about. Cameron created a world in so much detail that not only do you “see” it, but you actually “feel” it. A world filled with personality, the film also introduces us to a lot of culture. Cameron introduces us to a new form of culture not seen in humans but in a new species of beings called the Na’vi. The Na’vi aren’t just a species in the film, they’re a unified entity that makes the film such a joy to watch. Avatar introduces us to a new world, makes us fall in love with it to the point that we want to fight for it and let no evil dare abuse it in any way.  Cameron shows us his world not through a series of narration but through the eyes of the main characters but most especially in the eyes of the main character, Jake Sully.

Now, everyone’s waiting for opinions on Avatar’s visual effects. It may sound like I’m exaggerating but to be honest, this is the most realistic use of visual effects I have ever seen. Mixing live-action with CGI has never been so perfect. The visuals of an entirely CGI planet has never looked so real in my entire life. The only effects that I can think of that could come close to the visual effects in Avatar is the third Lord of the Rings film, Return of the King. Yes, Avatar beats LOTR:ROK in terms of visual effects. James Cameron’s perfectionism shows in Avatar because as of now, I couldn’t find a flaw with the visual effects of the film.

As for the storyline, there’s nothing shocking or spectacular about it but it doesn’t matter. Avatar will make you fall in love. The story isn’t about shocking you or making you feel excited for a battle. It’s a story of a stranger falling in love with a world that is new to him in every way but makes him feel at home. Instead of just telling a “boy meets girl” story, we get a “Boy meets World” story which makes it more interesting because his lover is part of the world making the planet, Pandora, his true love.

Performances from the actors aren’t spectacular but mostly necessary at best. Some actors go beyond what’s needed just to get that Academy Award Nomination but in Avatar, it’s not entirely necessary. The script isn’t deep nor is it anything worth noting but like I said, it’s not necessary. Avatar is a visual story. Even watching it without dialogue would still make it an amazing experience. The world of Pandora is already a story. The gestures of the computer generated creatures already tell a story. The actors themselves merely seem to be there for the human essence of the story. Not that I’m saying they’re not needed, all I’m saying is that the humans in the film were mostly necessary rather than being the main focus of the film. That means the actors did their job well but won’t be getting any nominations soon.

Avatar is one of those films that truly remind us why we watch cinema. It’s one of those films that truly brings us to new heights and new sensations. With 3D Technology, Avatar ups the ante in Hollywood. Avatar is the type of film that doesn’t rely on gimmicks but uses new technology to tell a wonderful story. Unlike most films that rely on CGI or the latest technology in film making just to shock or play around with the audience’s senses, James Cameron uses technology to express himself through telling a story that brings us to a new world that we have never seen before. Avatar isn’t just a film, it’s an experience. An experience that only a fool would miss on the big screen.

Rating: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of the few films that sparked my interest in the visual effects industry was Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Just seeing that liquid metal get shot by a shotgun just left me wondering, “how did they do that?”. Also, that chase sequence with the Harley vs. the 10 Wheeler truck? That was a classic. James Cameron was a visual genius and a lot people knew that whatever James Cameron had in store for the next Terminator film was going to be spectacular.

Sadly, the next film in the series wasn’t directed by Cameron and turned out to be average compared to the second film in the “trilogy”. The third film had most of the same things the third film had but less Sarah Conor and too much comedic sequences. But the ending of the third film was so good that this third film actually deserves some merit for being part of the franchise.

Continuing from there, we get Terminator Salvation. John Connor is now a grown man in the form of Christian Bale. Yes, John Connor is Batman. Anyway, John Connor is like some sort of prophetic celebrity to lead mankind to salvation from Skynet or otherwise known as the “Machines”. Another major character in this film is Marcus Wright, a man out of nowhere looking for answers as to what happened to the world around him. The entire plot of the film revolves around saving mankind from the machines and most specifically the younger version of John Connor’s father, Kyle Reese.

When McG was first attached to this project, I certainly hoped that he get kicked out and be replaced by someone else. Honestly, after that tremendously pointless and waste of film called “Chalie’s Angels:Full Throttle”, McG for me was considered one of the worst directors of this era. Later on, Christian Bale was cast as John Conner which kind of left me asking, “Batman?”. No offense to Mr. Bale, but I think we’re seeing too much of him lately. So in other words, my expectations for this movie was extremely low.

Seeing the trailers didn’t help either. I was thinking, “These trailers only show the good stuff”. Knowing McG, he’d overdo most of the action sequences and maybe have John Connor fight a Terminator while falling 100 ft high down to the ground. Everyone, I’m sad to say, I was wrong.

Terminator Salvation is decent and might even be next in line to be one of the best movies to see this summer. Although not as spectacular as Cameron’s films, Terminator Salvation in its own right has the right amount of action, story, and drama to be part of this popular franchise. Some may have speculated that the film may no longer adhere to the past theme of all the Terminator films, “Chase”. Gladly, the film is a split between a objective based mission and a lot of chasing. There’s a lot of running here and there with additional stunts that will put you in the edge of your seat.

Another good thing to point out that makes the film good is the practical use of CGI. A lot of people would believe that McG would go overboard with visual effects using ever 3D software available to do his insane stunts. Thanks to Stan Winston studios, there were a lot practical special effects that just make every scene achieve that sense of dread in the film.

The film is far from perfect but compared to the third movie, Salvation proves to be more entertaining and more serious than the third film. The feeling that all hope is lost is clear in the entire film. Another one of the few flaws of the film is its way of trying to hard to use lines from previous films like, “Come with me if you want to live” or “I’ll be back”. Eventhough these lines were used at the right moment in time, they just screamed “fanservice” to the audience. The script was a bit one dimensional seeing that there wasn’t much dimension in most of the characters. Also, John Connor’s life partner, Kate Connor played by Bryce Dallas Howard, was severely underused. There could have been a lot of dramatic and intense dialogue between the two but they didn’t have much chemistry to begin with.

Another thing that the film suffers from is the lack of focus. The plot shifts from Kyle Reese, Marcus Wright, to John Connor a lot of times and sometimes I felt like I just wanted to know what would happen to John Connor. Although it makes sense to shift from the three different main characters, it would have been nice if all three met around halfway into the story.

There were a lot of unnecessary characters, namely the Russian General who plays alongside with Michael Ironside. Speaking of Michael Ironside, his performance felt much like his performances from a dozen B-movies, but I’m glad he didn’t have much to do with the plot of the movie.

All in all, the movie was good, not as great as Terminator 2 but definitely better than the third film. Christian Bale acts well, but I’m not sure if he really plays well as John Connor. Terminar Salvation ranks 2nd next to Star Trek so far in this years roster of summer blockbusters.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Terminator Salvation gets 3 out of 5 stars