Can I Be Blue For 2010?

Film: Avatar

Actor(s): Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver

Official Drop Date: December 18, 2009 (U.S.A.)

Blades: 9.5

Review: This has got to be one of, if not THE hottest films to hit the screen to date. Out of all the crap I had to sit through and be bored to tears, someone finally saved the best for last. I would be shocked if there was to be another film before 01/01/2010 that would catch my attention. Not only has this movie hit cords so deep that most are too numb to feel, but it brought up questions that many are too scared to ponder let alone answer.

The Humans are found on Pandora, an Earth-like moon in the time 2154, bullying the natives all for the riches that lay deep underground. Unknown to the inhabitants, the humans are looking to remove them from the only home that they know in order to dig up minerals that would make these greedy humans rich and the inhabitants displaced, refugees.

A crippled Marine is recruited to take the place of his brother on a mission where Avatars are created using half-natives (Na’vi) and half-human DNA. These Avatars are the key for humans to infiltrate the domains of the Na’vi, but the Avatars (though they look like them) are not trusted by them. This turns out to be for the best.

Well through many trials, the Avatar is finally brought into the folds of the Na’vi people only to have it revealed that he (Jake Sully) was using them to get their land. Neytiri, daughter of the spiritual leader (Mo’at) and the leader (Akwey) of the Na’vi feels betrayed and hurt as she gave her total trust to Jake after a while. Her father is killed and her people displaced after the military jumped the gun and destroyed the tree (Omaticaya) in which the Na’vi called home. Ashamed of his role in the deception, Jake must now prove himself worthy of the natives and choose a side. Either that of destruction or that of life.

Jake makes his choice but leaves me with the unsettled feeling if the film makers wanted the underlying theme to be that the natives would have been lost without the White liar. It was him who helped destroy their home; it was him who was eager to trade intimate secrets towards destruction without a second thought; it was him who rallied the troops together to help defeat the evil White soldiers (his people). So why is he now the “hero?” There’s much to be discussed with the undertones of this film but that will be handled in Drama for Frog, Silence on Avatars.

This film gets the full 9.5 blades for the story (even though it’s been told before), the action, the visuals and the fact that the natives were sheer amazement and beautiful to watch. No handcuffs as I paid $6 to view it.

blades: ★★★★★★★★★½

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