‘Avatar’ visually stunning but lacks soul

"Avatar” takes place in the year 2154 on the faraway moon of Pandora, where, befitting its mythological name, the ills of human life have been released. The Earth depleted, humans have arrived to mine an elusive mineral, dubbed Unobtainium.

The Resources Developmental Administration, a kind of military contractor, is running the operation. At the top of the chain of command is Carter Selfridge (an excellent, ruthless Giovanni Ribisi), who’s hellbent on showing profits for shareholders. His head of security is the rock-jawed Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who curses Pandora’s inhabitants (the Na’vi) as savages and considers the place worse than hell.

In fact, it’s a paradise. In Pandora, Cameron has fashioned a sensual, neon-colored, dreamlike world of lush jungle, gargantuan trees and floating mountains. Its splendor is the most wondrous aspect of "Avatar.”

Cameron, like the deep sea diver he is (his only films since 1997’s "Titanic” have been underwater documentaries), lets his camera peer with fascination at the glow-in-the-dark plant life, the six-legged horses and the nighttime froglike creatures that, when touched, open a bright white sail and spiral into the air. This sense of discovery — in Pandora, in the wizardry of the filmmaking — makes "Avatar” often thrilling.

Our main character is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former Marine who lost the power of his legs in battle on Earth. His scientist twin brother has just died, and Sully, having a matching genome, is invited to replace him in a mission to Pandora.

He joins a group of scientists, led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), that is trying to learn more about the Na’vi by conducting field studies and undercover science. They’ve created avatars of themselves to go about Pandora as a living, breathing Na’vi, while their human bodies lie dormant in a sort of tanning bed (they return to them when their avatars sleep).

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