Avatar

The year is 2154. The US army lands on Pandora, a moon the size of Earth orbiting in space. Their goal was to harvest minerals from Pandora's soil, which were desperately needed. But, first, they must attack the alien world's peace-loving indigenous population, relocating or destroying them with their spies and bombs.

 

We thought sinking the Titanic was a massive task! This time, James Cameron opts to play god and constructs an entirely new world with such exquisite elegance, aesthete, and attention to detail that he practically takes your breath away. With its art house special effects and shock and awe treatment, Avatar symbolises the coming of age of both CGI and 3-D cinema in terms of pure technology.

 

On the one hand, the iridescence of the canvas and the never-before contours of the creatures, flora, and fauna flying across the screen makes you marvel at how computers can augment creativity; on the other hand, the umpteen times you jump back to avoid the arrows, guns, or slide away from the floating dandelions and fierce raptors leaves you completely mesmerised by this brand new cinematic experience. With its towering, wide-eyed, slender blue Na'vi people, post-modern animals, and luscious greens, Cameron's vision of Pandora is perfect beauty.

 

But it is Cameron's cry against war and violence, more than anything else, that makes Avatar an impassioned testimony to the present. Thankfully, the film isn't only a visual spectacular; it also contains a compelling tale that might turn this masterpiece into a modern-day fable for pacifists, climatologists, humanists, and globalists.... "When people are sitting on crap that you want, you make them your enemies," says the director, bluntly criticising America's post-9/11 expansionist actions. That's the only way you can justify removing their belongings!" Stuff? Minerals are present. In the actual world, oil.

 

It's a simple story, told straight. In this futuristic world, the US Armed Forces discover a source of priceless minerals in Pandora, a distant moon orbiting a star. They want to send in their troops to tame the indigenous Na'vi people, before extracting the minerals. But before they send their daisy-cutters and rocket launchers, they send in humans who have been transformed into Na'vi look-a-likes (they call them avatars) to infiltrate the peace-loving race and learn about their weaknesses and strengths. Enter, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic marine, who is promised a pair of legs for betraying the pacifists of Pandora. It doesn't take long before Jake falls in love with the beautiful Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the daughter of the Na'vi chief, and turns rogue on his own people. Can't blame him really, specially since his boss, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is a mean, macabre, war-mongerer who treats every non-American as ``a fly-bitten savage, living on trees.''

 

Avatar is a true cinematic experience, with cinematographer Mauro Fiore, music director James Horner, and special effects master Joe Letteri collaborating with director/screenwriter James Cameron to produce a powerful and visually-stirring appeal to preserve the Earth before it's too late. And the only way for humanity to do so is to give up its destructive instincts. Avatar is a comprehensive essay on Indianism for Indophiles and Indian philosophy fans, even down to the word "avatar." When you add in the blue-skinned, monkey-tailed, god-like Na'vi race, the possibilities are boundless....