Set in 2154 on Pandora, a distant moon in the Alpha Centauri-A star system, Avatar is about a clash between the moon’s indigenous Na’vi clan and the humans who have traveled light-years to mine the moon’s precious minerals in order to stave off an energy catastrophe back home. Since the earthlings are mostly soldiers, and since their mission reeks of imperialist exploitation, the Na’vi, who resemble 10-foot-tall, taffy-pulled, long-tailed, yellow-eyed versions of the Blue Man Group and speak what sounds like a cross between Maori and Yiddish, are understandably unfriendly. But one of the earthlings, an ex-Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), makes some headway.
Or, to be more precise, his Avatar does. The film’s central conceit is that, because the atmosphere on Pandora is poisonous for people, they devise a way to transform themselves into genetically engineered hybrids with human and Na’vi DNA. Because Jake shares the DNA of his late identical twin brother, who was trained for the Avatar mission, he becomes the chosen one. Mission commander Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) utilizes him as his undercover spy with the Na’vi. The colonel’s pacifist adversary, scientist and fellow Avatar Grace (Sigourney Weaver, for that “Aliens” vibe) wants to create a “bridge of trust” with them instead.
Jake is building his own bridge of trust with the comely Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a lithesome Na’vi warrior who careens through the jungle battling all manner of intergalactic beast (including one that looks like a panther crossed with a brontosaurus). For all the megamacho hardware in Cameron’s movies, he often features take-charge women (Weaver in “Aliens,” Linda Hamilton in the “Terminator” movies). Go Neytiri!
Note: Our meeting with be on February 17, 2010 at 7pm at Greekfest. See you there!
