Visually Dazzling Avatar Is Ferngully for the 21st Century And So Much More

A few weeks ago, when my brother Nathan came home for Christmas break, we compared our list of movies we were hoping to see before they left the theater. I mentioned Avatar, about which I’d heard nothing prior to seeing a trailer the week of Thanksgiving, and he balked, finding the over-promotion and spectacle distasteful. I held out in my suspicion that it would turn out to be a pretty good movie. He ended up going to see it with friends before Christmas, and when he returned home, upon being asked how he liked it, he told me, “Erin, I owe you two things: a heartfelt apology and a ticket to see Avatar.”

I’m not sure how a movie buff like me managed to miss the fact that James Cameron, director of the record-shatteringly popular Titanic, was releasing a new movie that was years and millions of dollars in the making, but when I finally did see the trailer, it looked to me like a cross between Ferngully and V, with humans the aliens this time, donning indigenous disguises, gaining trust and then, presumably, wreaking devastation upon the natives. (Mild spoilers ahead...)

Ferngully remained the stronger point of reference as I watched, with the main character, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), an oblivious outsider who, like Zak in that movie, becomes immersed in a world of tree-hugging harmony courtesy of a strong-willed, beautiful woman. In this case, that’s Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the fiery but compassionate daughter of a chieftain. Like Zak, Sam owes his life to Neytiri, who rescues him from a local carnivore (though not without a lecture on his stupidity for putting himself into such a situation). And like Zak, he is initially part of the team coming to destroy this community that will come to feel like home, and there are nearly identical scenes of these men attempting to disable the equipment sent to ravage the land.

Along with Ferngully, there’s a strong hint of Dances With Wolves, not to mention all sorts of other movies in which technologically advanced humans pose a threat to native societies and their habitat. Meanwhile, the film’s final battle scene reminded me of the attack on Endor in Return of the Jedi, with a hint of Tolkien-style Deus Ex Machina thrown in, and the bonding of the Na’vi with their flying reptilian steeds seemed like a page out of Anne McCaffrey’s book.

I’m always on the lookout for LOST parallels, and there were plenty to be found here. Most obviously, LOST alum Michelle Rodriguez is among the cast members, though her tough-talking, conscientious pilot is more like season-four addition Frank Lapidus than her own much-hated season-two addition, Ana-Lucia Cortez. There’s a strong hint of John Locke in Jake, who at one point utters a line strikingly similar to John’s “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” Like John, Jake comes to Pandora, the planet where the Na’vi live, a broken man, but among the natives he is whole and strong, developing a powerful a connection to their world and even stepping into the role of a long-prophesied leader. Colonel Miles Quaritch (Steven Lang), like season four’s Martin Keamy, initially seems like a reasonable enough fellow but is soon revealed as a merciless mercenary. Finally, one of LOST‘s most iconic images has been the opening of eyes. That was the first shot of the series, and we’ve seen it many times since. In Avatar, due to the nature of the human-avatar connection, there are more opening eyes throughout the movie than I could count.

But enough of the comparisons, for these are not meant to indicate that Avatar is a mere jumble of previously used ideas, but rather that it fits into a particular storytelling tradition. Avatar is a tale of imperialism, of strangers from a devastated world seeking out new life forms and new civilizations - to exploit. The sense we get here is that the men behind this mission are not so much interested in settling this Edenic planet as they are in mining it for the rather laughably named unobtanium. These hunks of rock are worth millions, but the planet’s biggest deposit is situated underneath the Na’vi’s most sacred tree. Leading the operation is Parker Selfridge (Giovanna Ribisi), a businessman who disdains the natives but would rather avoid the mess of an invasion. (Rather encouragingly, he also fears a public outcry over exterminating the Na‘vi, which seems to indicate that not all of humanity is as self-centered as he is.) While he’d like to find a diplomatic solution to their problem, it’s clear that impatience could prompt rash action, especially with the trigger-happy colonel looking over his shoulder.

Colonel Quaritch is overjoyed when he discovers that Jake, who has been brought into the Avatar program to replace his late brother, a brilliant scientist, is a Marine. He figures he can use him to get valuable intel on the natives, and as he‘s promised the disabled soldier new legs upon the completion of his mission, Jake is eager to comply. The Avatar program allows his consciousness to occupy a custom-made Na’vi body while his own body rests in a special chamber.

This body was built for his brother, but because their DNA is so similar, he is still able to use it, much to the annoyance of Sigourney Weaver’s Dr. Grace Augustine (a heavy-handed name if ever I heard one), the biologist in charge of the program. Fascinated by the Na’vi, she has studied their culture for years and taught several of them to speak English, but she is no longer a welcome guest in their village since Quaritch’s men have opened fire one too many times. Like Grace, geeky Norm Spellman (Joel Moore), who underwent intensive Avatar training alongside Jake’s brother, has his doubts about Jake initially and is visibly jealous that the Na’vi allow him into their inner sanctum. But he is a valuable ally for Jake as he tries to immerse himself into the culture as quickly and seamlessly as possible, with his promise to his commander becoming more distasteful by the day.

While the basic story is a fairly familiar one, it remains compelling, particularly when coupled with the stunning visuals, which are every bit as eye-popping as every description I’ve heard about them. Nathan, who’d seen the movie in the traditional format the first time out, suggested we spring for 3D this time around. As someone who has never been able to see the hidden image in a Magic Eye picture, I wasn’t sure how much of the impact I would get with my off-kilter eyes, but then I wasn’t expecting such heavy-duty glasses either. It was certainly a help to have real glasses that stayed on my face instead of flimsy cardboard things that kept falling off every couple of minutes. I put my glasses on and from the previews on, I was mesmerized (though I really could have done without the 3D preview for Pirahna).

Avatar in 3D is a wholly immersive experience. The lush jungle surrounds you. The delicate leaves caress you; the flowers’ vibrant colors enfold you until you nearly feel as though you’re wrapped in a rainbow. Tiny objects such as droplets of water are thrown into sharp focus, while sweeping shots of towering waterfalls become even more epic. And after you’ve joined Jake in a magnificent dragon-back flight, you’ll long for a 3D touch to the final Harry Potter movies. Everything about Pandora is startlingly gorgeous, from the luminescent plant life to the tall, sinewy, cat-eyed Na’vi, whose blue skin seems to emphasize their connection with the nature that surrounds them. Spend enough time among these arboreal people and you’ll likely cringe at Parker’s abrasive laughter when Grace tries to explain the trees’ networked structure. When the tree-clearing begins, it’s a horrific sight akin to the destruction Saruman wreaks upon Fangorn Forest in The Two Towers.

The hauntingly beautiful score has James Horner written all over it. Reminding me more of Braveheart than Titanic - as well it should, I suppose, given the subject matter - it is rousing at times, serene at others, with the choral offerings of the Na’vi particularly affecting. A Celtic influence is less apparent here than in those scores but still evident. Following the movie is a pop song inspired by the Na’vi greeting “I see you”. Repeated many times in the film and song alike, I suspect that this will be a catchphrase for 2010, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Leona Lewis overtaking the airwaves a la Celine Dion, though I’m hoping they’ll leave out the spoilery dialogue clips this time.

Avatar is the most expensive movie ever made, and it looks like it. The visuals speak for themselves, making it so much easier to fall in love with the Na’vi and their way of life. But James Cameron provides not just dizzying spectacle but also a grip-the-edge-of-your-seat story, making Avatar easily one of my favorite movies of 2009 and of the decade at large.