Summary:
When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.
Analysis:
As you probably know, there are two “Avatars,” the awesome James Cameron movie and the cartoon series of more than fifty entertaining episodes. The two are not even remotely related but no one can explain why they share the evocative title.
However, I do not relish the thought of sitting through the three-hour “Avatar” movie again, just to find out which version sounds better. Frankly, the only thing I liked about the movie were the breath-taking scenes of the floating mountains, the incandescent floral of nocturnal forest, the fantastic dragon birds, the exotic Etruscan horses and the gigantic tree sitting on a precious mineral coveted by a global corporation. I thought the idea that the entire forest was alive because of a mysterious neurological network would make the movie unique.
However, the story line could not have been enhanced by even the latest software invented by a genius programmer. For some strange reason, “Avatar,” could not go beyond the worn-out formula combining “Apocalypse” and “Pocahontas” and the fight between good-hearted scientists and inhuman military leaders in collusion with heartless big business.
Yet at one point, it looked as if the movie would transcend the predictable.
I thought that in the final battle, those massive floating mountains would crush the weapons of mass destruction before these could rain incendiary bombs on the helpless indigenous population and that the jungle itself, with its neurons, would enlighten the soldiers to hurl their guns over the cliffs.
The movie could have shown the forces of Mother Nature defending itself and the natives who venerated and respected her. But that did not happen. The most violent and destructive war had to be waged by both the good and the bad guys just to achieve peace. That is the official message in real life, so why should it be different in the movies?
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