PHOTO BY PHOTO COURTESY 20TH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
AVATAR
Where is it playing?: Santa Maria 10
What's it rated?: PG-13
What's it worth?: $8.00
(Brent)
What's it worth?: $10.00
(Roberta)
On the moon of Pandora, tensions are rising between humans, who have come from Earth to mine for a precious mineral, and the native Na’vi, a race of 9-foot-tall blue humanoids. The only hope for a diplomatic solution is the “Avatar Program,” through which humans mentally link to genetically engineered Na’vi bodies. Paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) arrives to participate in the program in the place of his recently deceased twin brother. He soon becomes caught in the middle of the conflict, as he begins to fall in love with the Na’vi way of life—and a beautiful Na’vi woman named Naytiri (Zoe Saldana). Written and directed by James Cameron (Aliens, Titanic).
Brent: This is what a big-budget action spectacle should be like. It’s got all the major selling points—amazing special effects, cool vehicles, big explosions—but it also has characters who make you care about whether they live or die. See, Michael Bay: You can actually have both! The story and themes have been done many times before; off the top of my head comes District 9, Battle for Terra, Disney’s Atlantis, Dances with Wolves, and FernGully, plus the old Ewoks TV cartoon (they had “soul trees,” just like the Na’vi). But the visual style is so inventive, the film still feels fresh.
Roberta: The design was genius. It took a lot of imagination. It dazzled me right from the opening scene with its lush, green world of Pandora, and continued to dazzle me right up to the ending credits. The Na’vi and the animals are incredibly interesting and have very expressive eyes. I especially love when Neytiri and Jake are flying around on their large “birds” (a.k.a. “ikran” or “banshees”). It’s beautiful!
Brent: I love unique creatures, and these are absolutely astounding! You can see the Earth animals they’re based on (this one’s a horse, that one’s a rhino), but the details of their design definitely feel extraterrestrial. The plant life is fascinating, too.
Roberta: It’s cool how the seeds from the sacred tree—“very pure spirits”—cover Jake.
Brent: The way the seedpods floated through the air, they had a very serene vibe about them. It was easy to believe they were “sacred.” And it’s nice to see special effects being used to depict serenity as well as destruction.
Roberta: The movie did a good job of showing Jake Sully’s childlike exuberance and curiosity. As he discovers things, we feel like we’re discovering them, too.
Brent: Jake is a guy who feels like he doesn’t fit in anywhere. This is why, when he begins to feel like he’s becoming one of the Na’vi, it’s so important to him. (So now our hero is a big blue guy, and everyone’s calling him Sully ... did anyone else think of Pixar’s Monsters Inc.?)
Roberta: (I did!) Neytiri tells Jake that he’s like a baby, but she also notices he has a strong heart and lacks fear. She’s a very strong female character. She’s quite capable, and a lot of movies don’t show that. She had a real personality, so you could see why he liked her so much.
Brent: She wasn’t the only strong female character, either. Sigourney Weaver plays Grace, the lead research scientist. Cameron previously directed her in Aliens, the second of the Alien franchise. It’s kind of amusing that she was in that whole series battling aliens, and she’s such a force for peace with aliens in this film. We both enjoyed her performance, as well as Michelle Rodriguez’s turn as a tough pilot. Rodriguez must have been really good, because she’s not really given much of a character, yet there’s something likable about her. The warmonger general villain is pretty typical, but I enjoyed the way Stephen Lang played him—how he could play on Jake’s military loyalties, and how he’d flex his muscles and show off his physical strength. Less effective is his corporate boss, Parker Selfridge. You could basically have replaced all of his lines with “I’m a greedy little corporate drone” and had the same effect. (This guy does not deserve the name Parker—not even as a first name!) He’s nearly as one-dimensional as the lone Na’vi who is mistrustful and jealous of Jake. One look at that pouty expression and you know what he’s going to be like for most of the movie. Despite this, they served their respective purposes in the plot and didn’t detract from the film too much.
Roberta: When I came out of the movie I felt a little ... not really disoriented, but like I had to come back to Earth. Does that make sense? Some movies, I watch them and I enjoy them, but I’m aware I’m watching a movie. But with this, it was like I was part of it. I think the 3D version was probably even cooler. And in IMAX 3D, can you imagine?
Brent: So you might have given that an $11, huh?
Roberta: I look forward to a sequel.
Brent: And I hope they leave well enough alone.
Roberta: Well, it’s just that I wanna know more about the Na’vi and Pandora. Actually, I wanna go there, but I’m not active enough to live with them. Maybe I could just sorta watch them?
Brent: Maybe someone will make a theme park attraction of the movie for us to visit.
Brent M. Parker is a writer, artist, and aspiring animated filmmaker. Roberta Slutske is his proud mother who taught him everything he knows. Contact them at mail@santamariasun.com.
