Avatar (2009), directed by James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens) and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver is the story of a paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a military reconnaissance mission in order to help mine a precious mineral which will supposedly help the Earth overcome its energy deficiency.
I was reluctant to go last night to see Avatar after all of the hype, the extravaganza and the media attention this movie has received since its release because not always do blockbusters live up to expectations. But this movie completely blew me away. For over two and half hours I was completely enthralled by the action, the mesmerizing digital graphics, the plight of the indigenous humanoid local population living on the moon Pandora and also by that well-dosed touch of romance, which always appeals to the sentimental at heart.
The plot is the standard boilerplate used in most blockbusters, but which for some reason never tires, even if we all already have a hunch of how it’s going to end.
The story is the classic tale of the battle between good and evil. Transported to an undefined era in the future, the opening scenes are of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic war veteran, who is given the unique opportunity to start his life anew by substituting his recently deceased twin brother, a former scientist, in a corporate-military joint venture. Jake is taken to the outpost of the US military on the moon Pandora and entrusted with the mission, together with a group of a few other select scientists lead by Grace (Sigourney Weaver), to discover all they can about the local humanoid population, the Na’vi, living in the woodland of Pandora. The purpose of their mission to help facilitate, ultimately, the mining of a precious mineral found in the underground of the forest area where the Na’vi live and which transported back to Earth will supposedly resolve all energy problems. So Jake and his fellow crew of scientists are entrusted with a military reconnaissance mission to spy the local Na’vi population using their alter-egos, namely their Avatars, a genetically-bred, human-Na’vi hybrid, to which each of the scientists can connect by lying in a pod-like case. Through their Avatars, the crew of scientists may survey and wander through the forests of the moon Pandora without suffering from breathing problems.
On the first outing of the group of scientists to the forest of the Na’vi, Jake is tracked down and almost killed by a Tyrannosaurus Rex looking beast and remains separated from the rest of his crew, which is not able to track him down and, as night approaches, is forced to retrieve to base as night ops are not allowed. Jake, during his night adventure in the forest, is almost killed by a pack of wolves but is rescued in the end by Neytiri (Zoe Sandana), a young Na’vi female, who introduces Jake to her people, the Omaticaya. Neytiri and her people, after some debate, decide not to kill Jake but to initiate him to their customs and train him to become one of them. As Jake learns more about the Omaticaya and their almost mystical approach to the forest where they live, which is alive and communicates with them, he becomes more and more torn between his initial mission and his fascination for the new world (and also for Neytiri) he has discovered.
As the story progresses, the ruthlessness of the tactics used by the corporate-military venture Jake is formally working for (representing evil forces) and the peaceful and natural lifestyle of the Omaticaya who live in total symbiosis with their surrounding forest (representing good forces) has the audience taking sides and rooting for Neytiri and her people. Also Jake finds himself becoming more and more involved in fighting to save the Omaticaya and their natural lifestyle from destruction by the evil “sky people”. Finally he is caught by his military superiors flagrantly sabotaging their efforts to bulldoze down the sacred Hometree of the Omaticaya, where the largest deposit of the precious mineral they want to mine is found.
Besides the good action story underlying this movie, the digital graphics are astounding, making it just a pleasant experience for the eyes. Almost every scene is like a beautiful show of glimmering lights in blue and purple hues, not to mention the fantastic floating mountains, the vibrant colors of the flying Mountain Banshees and the imaginary human-alien hybrid animals living in the forest. The 3-D effects in this movie are also well done because there aren’t any useless images lashing out at the audience.
The acting in the movie in general is good, albeit the fact it is probably not easy getting engaged with your character being connected with electrodes to a computer. However, the most compelling and convincing performance was given by Zoe Saldana, who most conveyed the emotions of her character to the audience.
All in all, Avatar is a must-see experience for the eyes, which can only be properly enjoyed to the fullest of its potential (in 3-D of course) on the big screen, so don’t wait to see it on video.