So tonight I went to go see James Cameron's $400 million movie Avatar with this gorgeous boy (who is unfortunately straight lol) and I thought I would give you my opinion of it.
I saw it in 3D, which definitely enhances it, but it really wasn't necessary for it to be breath taking. The animation and special effects were unbelievably realistic and flawlessly put together. The scenery and plant life and animals on the planet (or moon, I’m not sure which) 'Pandora' where the story takes place are so beautiful and intriguing that I was ready to pack up and move there!
The entire cast was also very good. The actors were believable and were clearly very devoted to executing their parts to perfection. They successfully connected with my emotions and drew me in to the movie on a personal level.
Although the movie was a visual masterpiece, the true excellence of the movie comes in with the premise of the story. I will try not to ruin the movie for you but I will give a brief summary. The main character is a paralyzed ex-marine who is the twin of a scientist who died. He was part of a team devoted to studying Pandora which is also being exploited for its rich mineral deposits by a corporation that's operating under military supervision/protection. The scientists on Pandora have developed 'Avatars' of the native people that are identical to the real natives, but are controlled by a human through a genetic connection to the avatar. The main character is brought in to control his brother’s avatar, which he can do because they shared the same G-Nome.
He ends up forming relationships with the head scientist, a pilot and another scientist who are important to him throughout the movie. He ends up getting stranded in the jungle and encountering one of the natives and eventually gets initiated into their community. During this process he brings back reports of his avatars progress to the head military commander, who is given the task of moving the locals out of their home so the corporation can get access to the mineral deposit underneath.
Once he makes connections with the locals, one of them is given the job of teaching him their ways. He begins to fall in love with this native and her whole species. There ends up being a war between the humans and the people of Pandora with much bloodshed. The entire purpose for the attack on the people is the greed of the humans is so great that they are willing to do anything to make a profit. IDK who I’d say is more evil, the top military guy who wants to kill all of the natives or the corporate official who is in charge of making a profit off of exploiting Pandora.
The best part of the movie for me was the way in which the planet functioned. All beings are connected with each other. The beings of Pandora have appendages that allow them to link their minds with all other creatures and plants, which is how they interact with things like their horse-like beings. Whenever the natives kill an animal either in self defense or for food, they thank it and give it a blessing of gratitude and good will for what it had provided them/the life they took. The writers emphasized the point that all energy is borrowed and shared. It came from somewhere before we had it and will go somewhere else when we are done with it. Energy isn’t created or destroyed.
In this world there is a tree that is the center of their belief system. It channels the memories and energy of their ancestors and gives balance to life. I personally don’t believe in a ‘creator god’ but I do believe that we are all interconnected through the energy of the universe. It may not be as strong as the connection of that on the world of Pandora, and we as humans are very out of sync with it, but I believe that it is there. These beings may not have advanced technology or even societies anymore developed than tribes, but they are clearly more advanced then we will ever be. They have found a harmony with the universe that we will never have, and I am convinced that if we were presented with a choice to preserve the harmony or to destroy it to turn a profit, we would undoubtedly make the wrong decision, just like what happened in the movie.
This movies social commentary hit right on and gave me a whole new perspective on the universe, existence and human nature. Not only is this the movie to change the way movies are done, it is my new favorite movie OF ALL TIME! I highly recommend you go see it.
~ And sorry if I lost you at parts, I’m tired and my brain is working rather slowly.
~Thank you to those of you who asked questions regarding yesterdays post, I will put up my responses tomorrow.
