Director: James Cameron

Cast:  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Sigourney Weaver

Rating:

Top-notch digitally fit beings; feeding on spirituality and connecting through nature’s gifts… as baffling as it may sound, yet, these tailed-neon-blue-creatures are carousingly fine-looking!

A movie that has been scripted 15 years back and intended to be released two years after James Cameron’s major hit, Titanic. Unluckily, technology advancement has failed to catch up with the director’s Imagination… so the script was shelved until further notice.

James Cameron, who went wild over the oh-so-expected success of Titanic, interrupted his hibernation to announce the creation of a rather daring thought. By initiating the idea, Cameron not only had to create a plot for an interesting spiritual planet called Pandora… he had to form a nation with history, culture, and language from scratch… Animal breeds, botanical gardens, and whatever falls in between had its own identity on this planet.

Just when doubts went over the top with a budget exceeding 200m dollars, Avatar proved Cameron right when three weeks after its opening night, it landed being the 2nd highest grossing movie ever, obviously following Titanic… one of Cameron’s dear babies.

Pandora, an earth-like set of floating islands of planet Polythemus (Inspired by a Roger Dean Painting) is inhabited by the Navi’s, who are ruled by a tribe called the Omaticaya; human-like sapiens,  only taller and stronger, who are very in touch with mother nature for which they worship its Goddess: Eywa!

Pandora happens to possess a very valuable mineral, Unobtainium,  which drives the attention of a more violent-natured form of beings who happens to inhabit planet Earth and are called Humans. Having this in mind, the later decide to create Avatars;  Navi-like hybrids who genetically match the human body and can be remotely controlled… to attend the planet, seize their opportunity, and kill the Home-Tree causing destruction to the bio-botanical network that links all the organisms on Pandora.

Jake (Sam Worthington) get mistakenly involved in an extensive dream that is yet to come true and an adventure that even dreamland cannot accommodate. After the death of his twin brother, the paralyzed ex-marine joins the mission on a last minute as a replacement… Jake goes on his first mission and gets lost where he meets Princess Naytiri (Zoe Saldana). Unwanted by the Omaticayans… the Queen, Naytiri mother, senses audacity in the Dream Walker’s eyes (How they refer to him in the Navi Language) so she asks her daughter to transfer their teaching to Jake.  As he learns more about Pandora, gets acquainted with his fierce looks, and grows fond with Naytiri… Jake is now more convinced than ever that Pandora is better left untouched  and no good can come out of the destroying the vital spirit that keeps its beings alive… The Home-Tree.  Lost between the two worlds, Jake sinks in a hole where dreams and reality jumble their way into his consciousness throwing him into a battle with morality.

Originally inspired by his mother’s dream of a cool 12 foot blue woman, Cameron was influenced by various cultures and religions, in addition to all the science fictions movies and books he has ever read and seen. However, the vital thought projected is worth attending; the concept revolves around the advancement humans can see themselves reaching… it’s a time where the impossible seems a rather attainable option and where greed feeds on souls. In our case here, humans are after what they can’t get, trying to materialize all their dreams in a peace of mineral from another planet… so the mineral is the dream and the Avatars are the means to make it come true. On the other hand, The Navi’s portray the true natural evolution of any given culture… where advanced weaponry, fictional technology, and sexy spaceships are so old fashioned… Pandora has risen to the top, and mysticism is their deed!

Conflicting projects, confusing movie titles, and unrevealed release dates kept followers unsure if the movie is going to see light. With Lord of the Rings’ Gollum being the director’s affirmation that technology can handle Avatar, James Cameron announced in December 2006 that the futuristic movie is in the making and supposed to be based on virtual lead actors. Later on, he stated that the characters will be portrayed by real actors, who are yet to be determined in 2007, through capturing their movement and facial expressions that will later be digitally stamped on the Avatars…

Negative thoughts coated the mega hit from all its corners in terms of values presentation & moral restrictions… some acclaimed articles bombarded the movie with racist allegations referring to “blue as the new black” and twisting minds by directing the plot and an unnecessary plot; humans who happen to be white are in a brutal fight with the blue mighty beings who happened to be portrayed by dark-skinned actors…

Despite its hilarious budget, the scenario’s life span, and Cameron’s monopoly of all time hits… the movie depicts deeper values and sets true definitions of spirituality as it being an aim and not a commodity… You may depict the Human-Navi Battle as it being racially prejudiced, or the effects unnecessarily over-budgeted, or the adventure reminiscing Pocahontas’s The New World… don’t ruin the lovely escape to an enchanting better place… drop the labels, sit back, and watch!

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