Avatar (3D)
Without much by way of
introduction, we find ourselves on a planet that isn’t earth, in what seems
like a basecamp near a frontline of what might be a colonising battle. We’re
here following Jake Sully, a young marine and our narrator, who fills us in on
the why, which involves his brother’s role in a project to learn about the
planet’s human analogues from the inside. It’s 2154, and our advanced human
technology has enabled us to splice extra-terrestrial and human DNA, creating
alien bodies that humans can control telepathically. Jake is here to control
one such body, in a “going native” scenario that’s out of this world.
The researchers who
Sully joins, many of whom have written theses on the Na’vi (their
extra-terrestrial subjects) don’t all appreciate Sully’s presence, given his
military background. The military, on the other hand, try to use Sully in order
to gain information about the Na’vi. Sully is initially gung ho, but he begins
to feel ashamed for helping the military-industrial complex achieve their goal
of accessing the planet’s vast reserves of the mineral Unobtainium.
The Na’vi are clearly
human analogues on their home planet, albeit if they interact with their
environment in ways that should, we suppose, give us cause for some
introspection. They have a way of existing in their environment as part of a
vast biological network “with more connections than the human brain”. Their physiology
allows for an actual interface with the other organisms which makes the network
of life explicit, much more so than our own, for example. This perhaps reflects
and exemplifies certain theories of functioning ecosystems. The Na’vi’s
technology then, such as it is, involves harnessing nature with subordinating
it, and transforms individual goals to common ones.
The Na’vi’s rituals and
overall depiction are strongly reminiscent of Native Americans, or other
indigenous peoples, so this isn’t very radical. Perhaps a case of a new twist
on an old recipe. This is in keeping with the movie’s target market, which is
the multiplex, and the 3D effects are another element of this. The special
effects are really good, making the sight of a 12ft tall Na’vi performing
barrel-rolls on the back of his personal dragon seem entirely natural. A unique
language was devised for the Na’vi and is used extensively throughout. However,
I don’t think the lexicon has a term for “eco-blockbuster” yet.