James Cameron has rightfully taken the Sci-Fi/Fantasy mantle away from George Lucas with his latest film. Maybe it can be a shared title with Peter Jackson for the Rings trilogy. I was more excited to see him working with Sigourney Weaver again, her credentials had been damaged thanks to those two awful Alien flicks and then only slightly repaired through WALL-E and Futurama (both as computer voices).
In the not-too-distant future (2154), Human miners, soldiers and scientists travel to the planet Pandora (really a moon) for various reasons: the miners go to harvest the highly profitable unobtainium for RDA (a corporation), the soldiers (mercenaries) are there to protect the miners and the scientists are around to study the indigenous life, namely the Na’vi, these giant, blue, cat-like humanoids who have a biological USB connector on the ends of their pony tails. Unfortunately, relations between the Humans and Na’vi stink because the corporation’s fiduciary motives trump any attempt to share Pandora. Using Blackwater’s future incarnation to “protect” RDA’s property probably contributed to the sour relations; the Na’vi are viewed like numerous other pre-industrial cultures, “they’re just a bunch of savages who don’t understand wealth, real estate and power.” With some genetic hocus pocus, Earth’s scientists have developed Na’vi bodies for human operators to transfer their minds into, ergo avatars. Through the avatars, Pandora can be more easily explored and studied (its atmosphere is too thin for Humans) while some try to interact with the Na’vi; regain their trust, learn about them and try to come to an understanding. It’s the usual story and stereotypes: Greedy Corporate Guy in charge (Ribisi), Psycho Military Commander who enjoys killing too much (Lang) and Idealistic Scientist (Weaver) who the previous two will betray since the Na’vi stand in the way of Human “progress.” Stuck in the middle is the paraplegic, ex-Marine Jake Sully (Worthington) who had no future on Earth. Jake only got his opportunity to go to Pandora through the misfortune of his twin brother; he was murdered a week before leaving; and being a twin, Jake is a genetic duplicate, hence the avatar will function through him. The PMC plays on Jake’s loyalties to the Marine Corps to be a spy on the Na’vi since the shareholders on Earth doubt a diplomatic solution isn’t feasible. Besides, if he does what he’s told, the corporation will arrange the surgery for him to regain use of his legs.
How the rest of Avatar plays out is not a secret. Hollywood isn’t going to surprise us with endings that have James Bond, Harry Potter or Alice fail to save the day like they did in the late Sixties and early Seventies with The Parallax View, The Wild Bunch or Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. What makes me like this movie is Cameron’s execution. He created a fantastic world filled with exotic animals, unusual plants, a fantastic sky and a landscape reminiscent of Larry Niven’s The Integral Trees. Pandora is a character in the film as well as the backdrop. Cameron just doesn’t let the effects be the movie. As for the critics who said the dialog was stilted and it was only a showcase of technology…which movie did they go to? The dialog wasn’t exactly David Mamet or Jane Austen yet it wasn’t forced or juvenile (see The Phantom Menace). The characters successfully conveyed what they needed to say in English and Na’vi.
As for the other criticism going around, namely the one saying this only is a more expensive version of FernGully: The Last Rainforest, that’s an oversimplification. Avatar has more in common with other films that had the protagonist “go native,” namely A Man Called Horse, Dances with Wolves and Dune, the last one being thrown in there because of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy elements.
Worth Seeing? Absolutely. Cameron has enriched the genre again. I figured District 9 would be it this year, especially after the dreck Hollywood shoveled out in 2009 (too numerous to list). We took it in at the Alamo Drafthouse, as expected, because Avatar was an event movie worthy of an appetizer, espresso milkshake and probably my last hamburger for a month (gotta’ lose more weight in 2010). If you have the opportunity to see it in 3-D, I highly recommend it. The add depth perception of Pandora’s jungles made it worth the extra couple bucks per ticket.