Avatar - The Visually Spectacular Multi-Billion Dollar Enigma

James Cameron's Avatar remains visually stunning, yet a fascinatingly average film to have the title of the highest-grossing film of all time.

Theatrical Release Poster for Avatar. Photo: 20th Century Fox

Is there truly such a thing as a film being undeserving of the title of highest-grossing film of all time? Historically, films like Gone With The Wind, Jaws, and Star Wars have all held that honour. However, for the past 15 years—except for a nearly two-year period when Avengers: Endgame held the title—James Cameron's Avatar has remained the highest-grossing film worldwide, with nearly $3 billion at the global box office. But when compared to the legacy and reputation of those earlier films, is it really deserving of that accolade? Avatar is indeed a curious case, as most contemporary discussion about it revolves around its cultural impact—or the lack thereof in some instances—and questions whether it truly deserved to become the highest-grossing film of all time.

The year is 2154, and Earth's natural resources have been depleted. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) attempts to mine the valuable fictional mineral unobtanium on Pandora, a moon inhabited by the Na'vi, blue-skinned, sapient humanoids that live in harmony with nature. To explore Pandora due to the poisonous atmosphere, genetically matched human scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called "avatars". Paraplegic Marine Jake Sully is sent to Pandora to replace his deceased identical twin in the Avatar program, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilisation.

Undoubtedly, Avatar's biggest strength lies in its visuals. No matter how great the advances in technology have been since its initial release, Avatar still looks fantastic and remarkable, especially in a cinema. The 3D effect is a fantastic first experience for anyone yet to engage with this form of film viewing, never taking the viewer out of the cinematic experience and justifying its existence, arguably the only film of its era to do so. While you could say this about many other films, the difference is night and day between watching Avatar in a cinema and watching Avatar at home; the visuals merit a cinemagoing experience.

Even if the level of quality is expected from a film with a $237 million budget, and even if it was the main selling point, the visuals elevate this film more than any other aspect. It could be argued that 3D effects have never been bested by any other film, since Avatar used 3D cameras for filming, compared to other films being shot in 2D before being converted in the post-production process. The vibrancy of Pandora and the level of detail and effort that went into developing this fictional world are truly a sight to behold and further confirm James Cameron’s place as one of the most iconic directors in recent history. You can't really argue against a director's success when three of the top four highest-grossing films of all time are directed by that man.

Unfortunately, there is a reason why people ponder over how this got to be the highest-grossing film of all time in the first place. Avatar’s plot of Jake initiating himself into the tribe and falling in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) is partially similar to Dances With Wolves or FernGully, or Pocahontas. For a standard sci-fi blockbuster, the story is serviceable, but for someone of James Cameron's reputation, it’s a step backwards compared to most of his films. Factor in the fact that the film could be seen as a bit unnecessarily long, clocking in at 162 minutes, and you have a film that doesn’t know how to use its runtime efficiently or make its plot coherently structured.

Furthermore, the work in the character department is the same as that in the plot: a bit of a letdown. Mr Cameron clearly wanted to keep the budget down by going for relative unknowns, but Sam Worthington, once pushed to be the next big thing in Hollywood, is not it. He's not awful, and he's probably thanking his lucky stars that Avatar became the blockbuster hit it did, setting him up financially for life, but his performance leaves a lot to be desired. It makes you wonder what could’ve been had Matt Damon, Cameron's initial choice and who was also offered a 10% stake in the film's earnings, not turned down the role in favour of staying loyal to the Bourne series. Even the other two finalists for the role, Chris Evans and Channing Tatum, would've been greater upgrades in the acting department than Worthington. Jake Sully is just not that interesting a lead character, and no other character stands out enough, not even Zoe Saldana’s Na’vi character, Neytiri. She is undeniably more interesting than Jake Sully, but she is sadly wasted in a tired, overused love story arc, even though Saldana’s performance is rather well demonstrated through motion capture. The rest of the cast, from Michelle Rodriguez’s pilot, Stephen Lang's scenery-chewing villain and even Sigourney Weaver's mentor and peace advocate with the Na’Vi, are all nothing more than simple, one-dimensional characters.

At the end of the day, Avatar is merely okay. There’s nothing wrong with a film being just okay, but when you have the weight of a $237 million budget and the reputation of James Cameron’s filmography backing you up, being just okay could be considered a disappointment. Ultimately, any idea that Avatar was a box-office fluke was dispelled by the performance of its 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, which grossed over $2 billion, another in a long line of examples where James Cameron has made his doubters disappear. It's more than likely he'll repeat the trick thrice with this month's Avatar: Fire and Ash and crack another billion or two, much to the delight of himself, the producers and cinema chains around the world. So while Avatar may be nothing special as a film, its visuals will always be impressive and compelling enough to get people into cinemas. Because, at the end of the day, films are predominantly a visual experience, there are few greater visual experiences to witness in a cinema than James Cameron's work on the Avatar series.