Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all, with a worldwide gross of $2.9 billion. It was a cultural phenomenon back in 2009/2010. Yet it is a film that had many detractors and was dismissed as a “Dancing with Smurfs” and “Ferngully in Space.” Whilst I have been critical of Avatar: The Way of Water, the first film is still an entertaining and awe-inspiring sci-fi fantasy adventure.
In 2154, humanity has started to colonise Pandora and mine the moon for its resources. The atmosphere is inhospitable to humans and the native population; the Na’vi are hostile to the RDA’s presence. Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) accepts an offer from the RDA to go to Pandora to take the place of his deceased twin brother, since he can use a Na’vi avatar body. Jake becomes central in a conflict between the RDA military, led by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), the scientists led by Dr Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), and the Na’vi after meeting a tribal princess, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana).
Avatar was a passion project for James Cameron. There was a 13-year gap between the release of Titanic and Avatar, as Avatar required a lengthy pre-production due to its revolutionary visual effects. Test footage was made back in 2005. Cameron was known for pushing visual effects to their limit: The Abyss, Terminator 2, and Titanic proved this. On a technical level, Avatar was jaw-dropping and still holds up after 15 years. It deserved to win its Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, which was particularly impressive considering the competition was the Star Trek reboot and District 9.
Avatar’s technical achievements had an impact on Hollywood. It started the 3D boom of the 2010s, which led to some visually impressive films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Gravity. Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson and Ang Lee became interested in the technology, leading them to make Hugo, Prometheus, The Hobbit Trilogy, and Life of Pi. Weta used their experience with motion capture on the Planet of the Apes movies.
Avatar was a genuinely entertaining film. There was plenty of spectacle, from when Jake inhabited his avatar body for the first time, seeing the beauty of Pandora, especially at night, and the clash of Pandora’s environment and humanity’s encroaching industry. There were fantastic landscapes, particularly the Hallelujah Mountains that were floating in the air. It was a beautifully realised world. It was an excellent action film, with the final battle, which was one of the best sci-fi fantasy battles put to film. It was epic and made for an exciting conclusion to the film.
2009 was a great year for sci-fi. There were films like Moon, Star Trek, District 9, and the underrated Terminator Salvation. Avatar was the biggest of them all. A fantastical world that was brought to life. One of the most extraordinary aspects of the world was the connection between all the lifeforms of Pandora. It was the Gaia Theory that was given a scientific explanation, since every lifeform could link to each other and ensure the ecological balance. Grace theorised that the plants were a neurological link that preserved the collective memory of the Na’vi. Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire novels have theorised that something similar happens involving the Weirwood Trees of Westeros. This idea of ecological balance leads to the film’s obvious environmental message that destroying forests is bad.
Avatar was made during George W. Bush’s presidency, which was marked by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These events influenced Avatar, like many films at the time, i.e. Children of Men, V for Vendetta, 28 Weeks Later, and The Bourne Ultimatum. The term ‘hearts and minds’ that was used in those wars appeared in Avatar. The RDA tried to win the Na’vi over with medical programs and schools, but made no effort to understand the ingenious people. The RDA was a stand-in for American arrogance, which they believed they could steamroll opponents with superior technology. It was similar to Aliens, where the Colonial Marines thought they could go guns blazing and be dominated by Xenomorphs. The RDA’s plan at the end of the film was to blow up the Tree of Souls with ‘Daisy cutters,’ a weapon that was used during the war in Afghanistan. Cameron had explored geopolitical situations, like the Cold War (The Abyss), the Vietnam War (Aliens), and nuclear destruction (The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day).
One of the biggest criticisms against the Avatar was that the story was derivative. It was a hero’s journey story where a reluctant marine discovered he was the prophesied hero of an oppressed people. It’s a template that has been used in fiction countless times, especially in sci-fi adventures and fantasy. The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and The Matrix all used the hero’s journey template, so they should suffer from the same criticism. Avatar was an introduction to Pandora with lots of fantastical elements, so a simple story was required to ease audiences in. There was a little lag during the middle when Jake was being mentored by Neytiri, but the film was a more tolerable length compared to the sequels.
Avatar characters were archetypes, but were generally well done. The film was filled with talented actors, with the likes of Saldana, Weaver, and Lang, and they did well with their roles. Saldana played a tough warrior princess who was both a love interest and a mentor. Weaver’s Grace was a scientist who was hostile to Jake since she saw a trigger-happy brute, but grew to respect the man, and Lang’s Quaritch was a ruthless military man. Cameron clearly liked working with Lang since he contrived a way to bring back the New Yorker actor. I have a soft spot for Michelle Rodriguez, so I did like her role as Captain Chacón, a pilot with a conscience who ends up allying herself with the Na’vi resistance.
The original Avatar was a spectacle that still holds up as a piece of sci-fi fantasy entertainment. Avatar was far from Cameron’s best, but he’s a man who made some of the best sci-fi action movies, and it was the best of the Avatar movies.
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