“Avatar” (2009) is what you get if you thought “Pocahontas” (1995) would be better if John Smith was the protagonist with a futuristic sci-fi bent, an occasional dabbling in wannabe “Jurassic Park” franchise wonder meets “Aliens” (1986), and don’t forget “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992) and “Dances with Wolves” (1990). Set in 2154, wheelchair bound, former Marine, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), gets an assignment on a planet called Pandora. The giant, blue skinned Na’vi are indigenous to the planet, and the human corporate interests want their oil, um, unobtanium (eyeroll), which means displacing them. Jake is tasked with piloting a human-Na’vi hybrid body to infiltrate their ranks. The scientists want to learn about the natives and theoretically coexist with them whereas the mercenaries, aka former Armed Forces members for hire, which is puzzlingly all American, want to find an advantage for the inevitable battle. At some point, Jake follows his own agenda because he has freedom of movement, a hot love interest who is basically Na’vi royalty, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and has the power of the “Colors of the Wind,” but will he be able to save the Na’vi? And if Jake can be a good enough indigenous person, maybe he can get a promotion and become a Na’vi too! After all, he is one of the best Na’vi ever. Rachel Dolezal proably got her ideas from watching this movie too many times.
I am officially the only person who was not into “Avatar” when it was released in theaters, but I was committed to watching it for two reasons: Sigourney Weaver, who plays Dr. Grace Augustine, the head of the Avatar program, and Michelle Rodriguez, who plays Captain Trudy Chacon, a pilot who transports the science team. I still had enough principles to wait until it was released on DVD then proceeded to be bored for two hours forty-minutes. When I heard the description of the movie, I knew it was not for me, and I was right. I’m only rewatching it to prepare for the third installment of the franchise, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (2025), but if that movie was not going to be released on a day that I thought that I had NBC-10, I would happily never revisit this mess. For the second round, I streamed it on Disney+ and did not like it much better. Joke is on me because I don’t have NBC-10, and I essentially lost a day of my life to watching “Avatar” movies instead of For Your Consideration movies. C’est la vie.
The characters are as thin as gossamer. There was a time when Sam Worthington had a chokehold on movies, a time that has thankfully mostly passed. He was the personification of a blank slate for people to project themselves on to. He was like Dua Lipa before she got roasted on the internet, “Give us nothing, queen,” and took the note to step up her performances. If he was in a movie that I wanted to see, I reconsidered it. Jake is not a compelling person so perhaps perfectly suited for Worthington, especially so the audiences could live vicariously through him. Jake is framed as an underdog: not smart like his brilliant dead brother, no money to get surgery, no ability to walk because of injuries in service. It is mostly a voice acting job since Jake spends the majority of “Avatar” in blue face or narrating. As a colonizer, he gets an automatic upgrade once he starts using the hybrid body though both sides call him derogatory names. He does not just get to have adventures and become one of the nameless masses of Na’vi. Nope, he gets the best of everything and to hobnob with all the Na’vi leaders. Paging George Orwell.
What is the sci-fi equivalent of a scream queen? Saldaña has dominated sci-fi spaces, and I incorrectly recalled Neytiri’s role as more substantive because she made a meal out of a morsel. Neytiri is constantly rescuing Jake (struggle love), but the first time, she was irritated that he was psyched that she won, which meant killing living creatures who attacked him. The last act felt dissonant because of that introduction. On one hand, yes, beat the colonizers, but everyone was too celebratory considering the loss of life, especially since they do not have a life form hierarchy.
If the character is not Jake, they are barely getting differentiated, which explains why the cast list is so stacked. These characters are underwritten so they need great actors to flesh them out and do the heavy lifting. Weaver chewed every scene that she was in, but it was ridiculous that in the middle of the Na’vi becoming refugees on their own planet, they stop everything and save her character. Yes, please let’s spend more time on this ceremony than screentime when she was conscious. Rodriguez is Rodriguez. If you like her, you will be happy, but she is basically seasoning. If your life depended on it, the rest of the science team would be impossible to remember, but they are coming back the second time around. Why not put a little effort into them so they enhance the movie instead of being glorified extras?
I love CCH Pounder, but had no idea that she was Mo’at, the spiritual leader and Neytiri’s mom. Wes Studi, a terrific actor, plays the voice of Eytukan, the clan leader and Neytiri’s dad. Anyone who knows Pounder or Studi cannot imagine their voices not being regal and distinctive. When they speak English, it is only in short bursts because they are unaccustomed to it. Jake is never depicted with such halting speech despite his lack of training. Maybe their voices will be more recognizable in the second movie when Jake is so acclimated that he hears Na’vi like English. They better have Pounder deliver eloquent soliloquies than the occasional one liner!
Giovanni Ribisi plays the dirt bag corporate guy, but did I remember that before the rewatch? No. Throw Sam Rockwell in the same role, it gets elevated. Ribisi is not bad, just forgettable. You know who you will not forget? Stephen Lang, who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch, a man that takes Jake’s decision to switch sides personally. He makes Saldaña seem like a newbie. Lang is such a magnificent hater. He acted like it was his money on the line when he is just an employee. He is a glorified security guard who is acting like this mission is personal. If you freeze frame his face in the final act, he is so locked in. He always acts as if he is in a good movie.
The runtime is bloated with the excuse of adventure in a magical world of wonder, which I understand people love, but again, is not my cup of tea. I’m watching quality screensavers for almost three hours. I’m obviously an outlier, and maybe I’ll change my tune when I see the third movie on the big screen, but it is boring. There is an intriguing idea that all life is connected as if they were the internet or a natural matrix. This idea was not delved into other than to have a jingoistic orgy or fly.
“Avatar” explores the annoying idea what if colonizers decided that colonizing was bad and switched sides. News flash: people barely do that now even when their lives are on the line. This fantasy concept of cos playing indigeneity has zero appeal to me. It is the equivalent of everyone becoming reincarnated to become a famous figure and not a person who works in a factory and will go unnoticed. Don’t worry, Cameron fans. I make up for this blasphemy by watching every incarnation of the “Terminator” franchise regardless of quality and complimenting almost everything else that Cameron does. Unconditional love has its limits.
