Avatar
(Movie Review)
The
Does this plot sound familiar? There have dozens of movies and books over the decades on this very theme. Now what if we turn this scenario around. What if Man from Plant Earth became the aggressor, and wants to colonize another planet in order to exploit its resources.
Colonization is not a new concept in our planet’s history. Mankind has spent centuries practicing it – one nation dominating another by force, depleting its natural resources, subjugating and killing native populations. And now man has become so technologically advanced that he just extends this concept beyond the boundaries of his home planet.
Settlers from Earth arrive on Pandora. The humans are headed by a ”for-profit” corporation, which has both a scientific unit and a military wing. They try to teach the native population English in order to interact with them. But the corporation is really after a precious ore, which is right undernearth the native village. Joining their crew, is paraplegic ex-Marine Jake Sully.
Jake’s twin had been part of the scientific unit developing the Avatars. This hybrid entity, containing DNA of both humans and the native humanoid Na’vi, allowed the Avatar to breathe the local atmosphere and interact with the Na’vi. Each avatar was driven by the consciousness and nervous system of its human driver. Jake is asked to take on the avatar designed for his dead brother as they share the same genome.
While the main directive from the science wing is to learn more about the natives and advancement of science, Colonel Quatrich, heading the military unit recruits Jake to get inside information to get the Na’vi off their land – ie: force their cooperation. The corporation plans to get the ore, with carrots or with stick. In return, Jake is promised spinal surgery, which would restore his legs.
The 10 ft tall, blue-skinned Na’vi, are actually a peaceful tribe living in harmony with their environment. Pandora is lush and green, almost like a tropical rainforest with its
During a chance encounter, A Na’vi princess, by the name of Neytiri, takes a liking to Jake’s Avatar and takes him back to her village. The tribe decides to teach him their ways. As his interaction with the Navi grows, he is forced to question his own role there. The Colonel and the head of the corporation realize that Jake is having a change of heart and move to evict the Na’vi by force – with “shock and awe” bombing. Jake has to save the day and decide where his future lies!
Dazzling high-tech special effects and a quick moving story make this movie a spectacular watch.
WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class) does the job he was built for – collecting trash, crushing it and piling it up one block at a time. Except that he is doing it 700 years after humankind left earth. Someone just forgot to turn this robot off.
Over 7 centuries, WALL-E develops an almost human personality. He watches old TV shows and collects interesting items he finds, including a plant, in his red cooler and organizes these treasures in a truck. He is lonely with only a pet cockroach for company
Humankind left earth when it becomes too toxic and now lives on the spaceship Axiom. They are waiting for the day when they can return home. But over the centuries, everything is so automated and run by robots on Axiom that humans have become obese and have even stopped thinking.
Enter EVE (Extra Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). She is a state-of-the-art, sleek robot, who can fly and is armed with a laser gun. She is a probe with a classified directive - to find signs of life. The Axiom routinely sends out these probes which usually return negative.
EVE lands on Earth and meets WALL-E. WALL-E is fascinated by EVE and develops a real liking for her. But as soon as EVE sees the plant, her mission directive takes over - she shuts down and sets off to take the specimen back to the Axiom. A distressed WALL-E follows her across the galaxy back to the spaceship.
Every movie has a bad guy - Auto (Auto-Pilot) has been running and controlling the ship and he likes this status quo. So he tries to destroy this evidence of life which will lead the humans back to Earth. It is up to WALL-E, EVE and a bunch of misfit robots to save the day. The humans too have to snap out of their mechanized stupor and learn to rediscover Earth.
