Avatar – 2009
Avatar was a true science fiction film, a spectacle for the senses. It was a big blockbuster film with dazzling visuals which were largely CGI, a competent cast of actors, and masterful direction by one of the biggest names in Hollywood, James Cameron. In fact, Cameron has said that the film was roughly 60% CGI and 40% live action. But the CGI was so well-done that it didn’t matter. The use of motion capture and improved methods of capturing facial expressions made for completely alien characters that looked as real as anyone had ever seen.
The attention to detail was amazing. Cameron created an alien world that had just enough earth-like realism to make it look believable, and just enough pure fantasy to make it magical. And what changed the visuals from impressive to spectacular was the use of color. The use of iridescent and phosphorescent illuminations as lighting was very other-worldly. Bright glowing pinks, purples, greens, and blues made it look both beautiful and mystical.
And the aliens themselves were so perfectly designed, with their blue skin, their giant-like size, their tails, and their all too human faces. The whole concept of the film, and what gives the movie its name, is that human beings grow alien bodies, into which they can install their own minds, controlling them as they would their own bodies. In other words, avatars. They do this in order to interact and develop peaceful relations with the alien species. Why? Because the planet on which they live contains an incredibly rare and valuable metal called, and I personally think this was a really dumb name, unobtanium. But never-mind that. To get their hands on this metal, humans are perfectly willing to murder the planet’s native population, the Na’vi. Of course, the egg-heads want to study the aliens without destroying them. It is the evil military men and the soulless corporate men who will stop at nothing to get their greedy hands on the unobtanium.
As the film begins, we learn that a man is perfectly suited to be part of both camps. He is Jake Sully, an ex-military man who has been paralyzed from the waist down, played by Sam Worthington. His scientist twin brother, who’d had an avatar grown specifically for his own genetic code to use, died, and Jake, whose DNA is similar enough to his twin, is able to use it.
On the scientist side, we have Dr. Grace Augustine, played by Sigourney Weaver, Dr. Spellman, played by Joel David Moore, and Dr. Max Patel, played by Dileep Rao. The movie’s resident bad guy is the testosterone engorged military madman, Colonel Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang. His heartless corporate counterpart is Parker Selfridge, played by Giovanni Ribisi. In between the two opposing sides is a military pilot who is sympathetic to the Na’vi, Trudy Chacon, played by Michelle Rodriguez. The aboriginal, warrior-like Na’vi include Jake’s love interest Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana, the tribe’s chief, Eytukan, played by Wes Studi, the tribe’s shaman, Mo’at, played by C.C.H. Pounder, and the warrior who is destined to be the next chief, Tsu’tey, played by Laz Alonso. And there’s the cast.
As you might easily expect with a film directed by James Cameron, the plot gets pretty preachy about environmentalism and the evil nature of corporate greed and an unfeeling, jar-head, military attitude. Technology is to blame for destroying nature. Human beings are generally a horrible lot who carelessly destroy anything that gets in the way of their insatiable avarice.
And on the flip side, the film clearly paints the nature dwelling natives as peaceful people who are just trying to defend their homes. Like the American Indians? But what I really like about them is their incredibly unique and fascinating connection to the natural world in which they live. Through special tendrils sprouting from their heads, the Na’vi are able to physically connect with and mentally commune with most living creatures on the planet and even to special trees, in which live the spirits of their ancestors. This amazing connection allows them to control the animals, but also develop an emotional and mystical bond with all of nature. It is a beautiful and unique world, despite Cameron and his environmentalist soap box.
To make a nearly three-hour long story short, Jake, through his avatar, is able to become trusted by the Na’vi as one of their own. The genocidal Quaritch wants him to betray them, but Jake goes native and ends up leading the aliens in a revolt that defeats the evil humans and their technological destruction machines. Like I said, the visuals were stunning. The realism in this mostly CGI world was jaw-dropping and the film really deserved the Oscars it won for Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction. The movie was a true feast for the senses and a beautifully made science-fiction masterpiece.