Avatar Film Review

“It is hard to fill a cup that is already full,” says Mo’at, a na’vi (or native) of Pandora, the fantastic world in the new blockbuster phenomenon Avatar. Written and directed by renowned director James Cameron, Avatar challenges viewers to step beyond their experience, emptying themselves of judgment and expectation, in order to understand and respect an alternate world and lifestyle. Thus, Cameron’s long envisioned fantasy (he wrote the first script in 1994) becomes an incredible reality. Beckoning audiences into its magnificently created landscape and culture, Cameron artfully pinpoints a timeless message in a specific time and place.

In his film, Cameron creates an Eden-like paradise on the planet of Pandora. This visually stunning land offers unparalleled power and promise. Humans escape a war-ridden earth for Pandora’s opportunity, and, especially, for its unobtanium, a mineral even more costly than gold. Jake Sully, a wheelchair bound, ex-marine played by Sam Worthington, arrives on Pandora simply by chance. Agreeing to continue his deceased, twin brother’s science endeavor, he enters the body of an avatar, a scientifically created being composed of both human and na’vi DNA. Stepping into Pandora, literally, for the first time, Sully personally encounters the na’vi. Accepted into their private world, he becomes immersed in their riveting culture and experience. Quickly, however, Sully experiences the tension between his newfound relationships and earth authorities’ desire to destroy their community, a location highly rich in unobtanium. Ultimately, Sully’s allegiance can lie in only one of two realities, humanity or his newfound identity.

At first, Avatar can seem like one of many twists on the somewhat cliché story of the human discovery of a new world and the conflicts that follow. After seeing the trailer, many found the plot to be reminiscent of films such as Pocahontas and Dances With Wolves. Once immersed in the phenomenal world of Pandora, however, one realizes the complexities of this created place and its inhabitants. Using state of the art technology, Cameron overwhelms viewers with luscious, jungle landscapes teeming with fantastic creatures, the melodic sounds of the na’vi language, and the strong, spiritual connection between all living things and Ewya, their deity. The multidimensional characters only enhance this imagined world through their genuine emotion and experience. Viewers can easily become engulfed in the characters’ journey, almost becoming part of what the na’vi describe as the network of energy that connects all living beings. Viewers, thus entangled in the na’vi culture and struggle, then have perspective to witness all that Pandora unleashes in humanity. Artfully and realistically, Cameron uses his created world to powerfully challenge human nature and morality. Ultimately, viewers can find themselves in Sully’s shoes, facing the question of whether or not to betray their very own race. Though not necessarily a new story or message, Avatar is not short lived or a simple battle between good and evil. It is a complex world that intricately connects itself to our own experience, and, upon leaving the theatre, I hoped, like Sully, that “my cup is empty.”