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A Tale As Old As Time With Graphics Slightly Ahead Of Our Time.
Like most of the movie going populace I was intrigued by James Cameron’s latest offering. It not only marked his first major release since the monumental award winning and box office smashing flick, Titanic, (yeah, I know he did those undersea documentaries but I’m not counting those so “nyah”) but also his return to the kingdom of sci-fantasy. This is the man that brought us The Terminator, T2: Judgment Day and Aliens. When Cameron announces he’s doing a science fiction picture it raises a whole lot of hackles on the back of a whole lot of necks.
But remember when George Lucas came back from his “retirement” to resurrect the Star Wars film series? Remember how flawless and exquisite those prequels were? Remember Jar Jar Binks? Mr. Lucas tried to get back on his glory horse and many would argue that he was sitting in the saddle backwards. Would Mr. Cameron meet a different fate or also stumble off his “geek god” pedestal?
Before I give my verdict let me tell you about Avatar. I know, that suspense stuff is a pain in the butt but amazingly it still works for American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. But anyway…..
The skinny is that the planet, Pandora, is rich with a valuable ore called “unobtanium”. It fetches a hefty price back on Earth so the demand is high for the stuff. The trouble is that an indigenous race called the Na’vi won’t let the humans mine the unobtanium.
So, the corporation has partnered with science to create Na’vi avatars that will allow humans to control an artificially engineered Na’vi clone through a neural interface. Think the robot doubles in Surrogates except the Na’vi avatars are totally organic. The “driver” experiences everything through his avatar. Every sight, smell, kiss and punch that the avatar feels so too does the human counterpart. The avatars are used to help establish a positive relationship with the rightfully suspicious Na’vi. While the scientists are thrilled with this new culture the suits are growing restless and impatient. When science lags the military is called in to pick up the slack and get the natives to give in to the corporation’s demands or get out of the way of the bulldozers.
When Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) twin brother is killed the Marines turn to him as a second choice to pilot a Na’vi avatar. Jake acts as a double agent helping the science team gather more factoids about Na’vi culture and gathering intel for the military brass so they can thoroughly defeat the natives. As Jake grows closer to the people he starts to have pangs of guilt about his mission. Will the paraplegic soldier actually sell out a whole race of intelligent beings in exchange for his restored legs?
Well, I’m not going to spoil it for you. At least, not outright. Let me put it this way; if you saw films like The Last Samurai or Dances With Wolves then you’re going to predict a lot of what happens in Avatar because the concept is very similar. The agent goes in, wins the trust of the “enemy” as per his mission but spends way too much quality time with the locals and ends up becoming an honorary member of the pack. Ah, but though the story is similar there are some pleasant surprises for the one that dares to accept the shuttle ticket to Pandora.
Avatar (2009) is full of conflict. Man vs Na’vi. Technology vs Organics. Military strong-arming vs diplomatic negotiations. What stuck out most to me was the battle between the profit driven corporation and the sacredness of the environment. Avatar was released at a most fitting time. Watching company man, Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), do whatever it takes to make the bean-counters happy at the expense of a planet’s ecosystem reminded me of the arguments about coal energy during the recent 2009 environmental conference in Copenhagen.
Coal is a great energy source and it has been for many years. It’s kept whole towns thriving and whole nations lit up. But what has been the cost? As the bosses make their profits the workers are subjected to hazardous work sites and constant exposure to toxic substances that affect the miners and the families they come home to. And let’s not forgot about the destruction to the landscape and local water sources. While watching Avatar I was imagining that maybe Parker would go back to his superiors and try to convince them to find another energy substance that would bring power to the people without having to devastate the planet of another people. Because we’re having such a breeze of a time telling those coal companies that they need to clean up their acts or switch to another business venture. Yeah, those fatcats are really going to give up their cash cow so the grass can grow green again.
So, yeah, you can apply Avatar to a plethora of debates and disagreements enviromental, political or otherwise, going on at the moment along with the ugly reminder that the Na’vi aren’t the first group of people to be terrorized for their natural resources. I love that Cheerokee born Wes Studi plays the chief of the Na’vi’s Omaticaya clan. It just gives that genocidal aspect of Avatar a big ol’ exclamation point.
Y’know, there might be some that feel the military get a very unflattering rap in Avatar. It seems that except for Pilot Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez) and Jake the rest of the military seem to have no qualms about eradicating Pandora of all Na’vi to accomplish their mission. Even the soldiers from ethnic groups that have experienced similar acts of hostility are all smiley and eager when Colonel Quaritch gives them to go ahead to unleash hell on the blue people. Like the story says, in this period in Earth history the soldiers on Pandora are kind of sadistic rejects to begin with so I’d like to think these are the guys and gals who were booted from the real Armed Forces because they were just too trigger-happy for the room.
Next up are the visual effects. There’s a whole lot of CG going in Avatar from the military aircraft to the sophisticated computer systems in the science labs to the flora and fauna of Pandora and of course the completely computer generated Na’vi inhabitants. Imagine the live action / blue screen combos (300, the Star Wars prequels, Cast Away) coupled with meticulously animated CG characters (Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy or Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe).
I have to admit that I thought the graphics were very pretty to look at. Yet, it looked liked the stuff I’ve seen Lucas, Spielberg and Peter Jackson do already so I wasn’t totally blown away. The colors were pretty and the CG creatures were beautifully designed but it was kind of ho-hum for me.
Then the third act (or should I say third hour?) came along when something devastating happens to the Na’vi and the Na’vi became real in my eyes and mind. I mean, when this thing happened and I saw the reactions of the blue people I was hit square in the gut with this solid fist of emotional power. I didn’t cry but I was very moved and awestruck by what I was seeing. I think a lot of directors have been trying to dig up emotions from their CG creations and some have succeeded. But I’ve never seen it done to this scale before. It was incredible how after that turning point all the Na’vi became living and breathing to me.
The performances are a blast to watch and I love how the cast roster reads like a comic-con guest list. Sigourney Weaver plays Dr.Grace Augustine with the compassion and curiosity of Jane Goodall and the steel balls of Ellen Ripley. Sam Worthington won over many with his cybernetic turn in Terminator Salvation and is a fine leading man in Avatar. I would expect to see more of him in 2010’s film schedule. Zoe Saldana takes a break from the Starship Enterprise to give the Omaticaya tribal “princess”, Neytiri, a voice while veteran actress CCH Pounder lends her majestic pipes to the tribe’s queen / high priestess, Mo’at. Michelle Rodriguez adds ace pilot to her impressive resume (boxer, zombie killer, vampire hunter, truck hijacker) while Dileep Rao joins the science team after being nearly dragged to hell (hint, hint) last summer.
Oh right, about that final verdict, um, the basic truth is that I liked Avatar. It feels really routine at first but something happens that shakes all the pieces on the board and then things get really interesting and exciting and emotionally stirring after that. Though the plot is familiar and terribly predictable at times there are still a lot of quality moments that make the trip worthwhile. I think my only gripe is that the ending is dragged out a little too long because we just had to have that final confrontation between Jake and Colonel Quaritch. Oh, and James Horner tries to make lightning strike again with the closing ballad, “I See You”, performed by Leona Lewis. It might be a hit at the next string of wedding ceremonies but it ain’t “My Heart Will Go On”. Sorry.
I don’t know if Avatar will follow Titanic’s footsteps as the next box office monster hit but this is an artistically significant piece of work though it’s hard to deny that Avatar is kind of like Ferngully overdosing on performance enhancement drugs.
And if you can see Avatar in 3-D please do. The extra $5 makes a difference because the already impressive visuals look drop dead gorgeous in the third dimension. This has to be the grandest environmental commercial ever made.
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