Avatar In Concert: Royal Albert Hall Review
Reviewed by Franco Milazzo for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
In the latest of their Film In Concerts, the Royal Albert Hall presented arguably the biggest of them all: James Cameron’s Avatar.
Released in 2009, it is the highest grossing movie of all time having brought in almost $3bn at the box office. Cameron himself is responsible for three of the four biggest on that list having also helmed the 2022 sequel Avatar: Way Of The Water and Titanic. Ahead of the screening, he sat down with the producer of this concert version Pierre O’Reilly and composer Franglen for a brief interview.
Both Cameron and Franglen paid tribute to two men who helped the film become the success it was. Composer James Horner was a long-time Cameron collaborator who died in 2015 while piloting his plane over Los Padres National Forest in California The pair worked with together on Aliens and Titanic - we have him to thank (or blame) for “My Heart Will Go On” - before creating Avatar’s epic score.. After Horner’s death, Franglen, who had worked closely with him on that film, picked up the baton for Avatar: Way Of The Water. Someone else who had worked with Cameron for decades was Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau who passed away earlier this year and to whom this screening was dedicated.
The interview inevitably turned to what we can expect from the upcoming third film in the Avatar series, next year’s Avatar: Fire And Ash, as well as the fourth and fifth films in the series scheduled for 2029 and 2031 respectively. Cameron is understandably secretive about exact plot details or which characters are coming back but told us to expect an experience which would reward our investment in the series so far and would be both “harrowing and uplifting”.
The big add-on here compared to seeing the movie at home is obviously the live music and singing from Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and its conductor Ludwig Wicki, the National Youth Choir and soloists Eric Rigler (whistle) and Eleanor Grant (vocals). The film itself has held up remarkably well, even if the visual effect now looks a little dated. Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, the disabled former Marine that joins up with the giant blue-skinned aliens, is an interesting choice as the lead: his acting is pure pastrami (beefy yet hammy) and he is often out-acted by the lush forest scenery. Alongside him in one of her breakout roles, Zoe Saldaña is Neytiri, the daughter of the clan leader and his tutor and eventual lover. There is some genuine chemistry between them though whether this is more down to the computer graphics or their acting is debatable.
Avatar was lauded at the time for its innovative use of filmmaking. Cameron and cinematographer Vince Pace developed their own proprietary 3D camera and, combined with the motion capture technique used by Peter Jackson in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, contributed to the 60% of the movie not made up of live action; in the sequel, Cameron turned the dial up with 90% of the film made up of CGI. If anything, it is the supporting characters that shine the brightest. As Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar programme and Jake’s mentor, Sigourney Weaver is a feisty scientist who rubs up against Giovanni Ribisi’s amoral corporate administrator Parker Selfridge who is determined to mine as much unobtainium from the planet as he can. Stephen Lang plays the antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch with vigour and a truly evil glint in his eye. Although Augustine and Quaritch meet their demise, Weaver and Lang both returned for Avatar: Way Of The Water.
Once again, the Royal Albert Hall’s Film In Concert series has delighted and amazed in equal measure. Upcoming screenings include Gladiator, Home Alone and Back To The Future.
★★★★
