I don’t review movies that often here, even though I certainly see my fair share. Most movies aren’t really applicable to the theme of this blog but Avatar definitely is. Even if it wasn’t I STILL might mention it because it is honestly one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is insanely good and I almost skipped it thinking it looked a little too weird for my liking. And until 20 minutes or so into the movie I was still skeptical.
This movie takes place in the distant future.. somewhere around 2150 I think. Humans have decimated the earth and they are prospecting other worlds for energy sources which are the new currency. A corporation has found the motherload of energy sources in an ore that is found on Pandora. The problem is that Pandora is full of fierce creatures that make anything Earth had look like a mere kitten and the indigenous people, the Na’Vi, don’t want or need anything from us and are not willing to relocate to allow for us to prospect and strip mine their land. Their “hometree” is actually sitting right on top of the area the corporation wants to access. In an effort to get what they want they hire a Blackwater type operation, using soldiers for pay as a backup plan. Their primary plan is to use a group of scientists who have created Avatars. They took human DNA and mixed it with the Na’Vi DNA and grew a mixed breed that look more like the cat-like, 9 foot tall, blue skinned Na’Vi. The host of the human DNA can link to his avatar and essentially sleep while his brain controls the body and mind of the avatar. This allows them to try and gain access to the Na’Vi people and come to an agreement that will make both parties happy. No one wants to see any harm come to the Na’Vi but as the corporate CEO points out, his human shareholders find profit more important than keeping the peace.
The story is absolutely amazing, I loved Jake Sully’s character.. a jarhead that always follows orders beginning to experience a crisis of conscience when he realizes that these wonderful people will never willingly leave their home and that in the end money will motivate his own people to genocide. I also loved Neytiri, the Na’Vi woman who befriends Jake even though she thinks the “sky people” are “ignorant like children”. The real gem in Avatar though is the world of Pandora… once Jake begins to see what it is that the Na’Vi are trying to protect (I don’t want to elaborate and ruin it, but it is freakin awesome!) he knows what he has to do.
While the story and the characters are awesome alone it is nature that really becomes the star and I heartily recommend this movie to everyone but especially environmentalists. By and large it is getting awesome reviews all over the web but there is a small element of people who I would wager are conservative Christian, politically speaking, who don’t like it.
I read a couple reviews that said the whole movie was about white guilt, making white people look bad and making them feel like they should still be seeking redemption for the atrocities committed against Native Americans and during the slave trade years. It has been called Dancing with Wolves in Space. I disagree with this interpretation ardently and in fact if anything I think it is a statement against corporate greed, unfettered capitalism, and environmental destruction. Either way I can see why the politically conservative may object to the message. They may also object to the spiritual element of the movie which paints nature… animals and trees, just as worthy as any other species and I know there are political and religious folk that despise putting any aspect of nature on par with human life.. that whole idea of us having dominion and all that. Many are crying that the movie is about Pantheism. I am not making any judgements just sharing why some seem to object to this movie. My brother, in fact, refused to see the movie for those very reasons… the elevation of nature as equal to man, the idea that mankind causes planetary damage, giving nature a spirit, etc. Whereas I see it and see beyond that to the themes of capitalism at the cost of lives and environment, and our failure to see the interconnected-ness of our lives and the natural world.
I talked him into seeing it with me tomorrow, so I can see it in 3D. I look forward to seeing if he changes his mind at all.
Did you see this movie? What did you think?
