No sense in trying to explain the visuals to you in text. Just expect to get your brain drop-kicked across the road from the theater in which you go see Avatar.
The story is a classic journey-and-transformation story. We see our hero literally transform from a disabled veteran Marine, to a 12 foot tall aboriginal warrior of Pandora. Like the Col. Kurtz character from Apocalypse Now, we see him become his master’s worst enemy. The beauty of this film is in the actual change in the character. To see a gun for hire become a champion of the forest is a beautiful statement on human nature.
The Navi are the indigenous people of the planet Pandora. It is one of the only planets where the rare and expensive unobtainium can be found. The Marines are on Pandora as hired guns for an un-named corporation hell-bent on extracting as much of the ore as possible. However, Pandora holds a secret and the Navi want to protect it.
The breathtaking environment of the Navi is used, not only as a backdrop, but also as a plot device. This works well, and is a nice artistic clarion call for environmental activism.
Also, the Marines impressive array of weaponry is utterly realistic, in that it all looks like it could really work. Likewise, the aboriginal technology and tools looks extremely well thought out and authentic.
James Cameron has obviously not given himself away to lethargy in his hiatus from film. This film is not only his best film to date, but it showcases his most eloquent statements of humanity. It's obvious that Cameron is a huge Sci-Fi fan with hits like Aliens, and The Terminator series, however it is Avatar that seems as if he went a step further with his love for Sci-Fi.
The best Sci-Fi not only shows where we can go as a species, but where we don’t want to go. While Cameron’s Terminator series surely spoke of the dangers of out-of-control technology, Avatar hits a little closer to home with it's take on out-of-control Corporatism. With news for the past few years of rank corporate greed and wrong doings, Avatar gives us a sobering look at the military might that corporate greed wields. The film is unerring in it visualizations of what will be done motivated by greed.
Best of all, this film has a strong focus on human resolve and human sprit. Avatar shows how the strength of a few can challenge the masses. When you look at the entire story telling fabric, aren’t the best stories always about people overcoming challenged insurmountable odds?
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