Ill-Informed Gadfly

For all the technical innovations and visual splendor of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” it’s arguably the least inspired piece of storytelling of his remarkable career. Of course, similar things were said about “Titanic,” and you know how much good that did. I enjoyed “Titanic,” because once that big ship started to go down, the movie theater was the only place you wanted to be. The same is true in “Avatar” when Cameron’s lithe and luminous blue aliens ride ornery pterodactyls into battle, with the future of their civilization at stake. Cameron sets out to rewrite not only the plots of the westerns he steals from so liberally but all of human history. He imagines that on a distant planet, a technologically backward but spiritually enlightened indigenous population would have a real chance to ward off imperialists wielding guns, germs and steel. It’s a dunderheaded fantasy with little real-world relevance, no matter how many digs at the Bush administration Cameron throws in. “Avatar” takes place in the mid-22nd Century on the planet Pandora, home to a humanoid race known as the Na’vi. The tale centers on an archetypal but uninteresting human who “goes native” in the most spectacular way possible — through a living, breathing cipher that he controls with his brain. It’s a metaphor for the viewing experience: Cameron doesn’t want you to merely see the Na’vi, he wants you to become one. And on this level, he’s wildly successful. “Avatar” brings an entirely new world to the screen. It’s gorgeous and engrossing, despite the sometimes disorienting effect of digital 3-D. Even with his intellect on hiatus, Cameron has plenty of guts and heart. He’s a born entertainer.