Arriving on the alien world Pandora Jake is to remotely pilot an Avatar, a genetically engineered human/alien hybrid the science team attached to the corporate mining operation uses to engage with the mostly hostile indigenous population the Na'vi..
Being mostly unprepared for this job, Jake's Avatar is separated from the rest of the team on his first trip out. Alone in the hostile forest environment he is rescued by one of the Na'vi, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) who treats him like a stupid baby that needs protecting. Which he does.
Jake's naivety and the unplanned nature of this event gives him an introduction to the Na'vi the science team have been unable to re-establish after losing their trust some time back and soon he is lost in their world. Meanwhile efforts to strip mine Pandora continue.
This massive hit was one I was cold towards at the cinema and still found very unsatisfying this time round.
It looks great and the action sequences are excellent. Even over a decade later the CGI motion capture acting is mostly excellent with the odd naff moment.
There's two halves of the story to think about.
The human side is a very standard 'evil corporation shuts down scientists who want to study the thing in the way of the profit' kinda thing, but it's well done. They cast an excellent 'xenophobic gung-ho Marine colonel' in Stephen Lang and while all the industrial military scene setting doesn't get much screen time it's familiar ground for Cameron. Throw in Sigourney Weaver as the head of the science team and Michelle Rodriquez as a sympathetic Marine pilot and it all slots together nicely.
Then you've got the bulk of the film which is Jake's time with the Na'vi. Which is a mix of tiresomely earnest "look how awesome these people clearly an allegory for the indigenous Americans are" and "saviour fantasy where the outsider comes in, saves the day and gets to fuck the hot alien princess". It's just awful wish fulfilment nonsense.
Add on top, Jake starts out paraplegic living in a tiny flophouse and is considered kind of worthless. Once he's a ripped 10ft tall alien he's quickly baddest of the badass, saviour of everything. I'm not sure if they're trying to say something here but it feels more like erasure of his disability than saying he was great all along. I could be reading it wrong, it's not exactly a topic I can speak well on but it felt off to me.
As it progresses the environmental woo gets sillier and you end up with Jake magically transferring into the Avatar to live as Na'vi full time. It just felt cheap 5/10.
With several sequels planned I'm not sure where else they're going with the franchise. Avatar is a 90s idea made in the late noughties with effects good enough for now. The next ones better have stories good enough for now or I think they'll look silly.