Director
James Cameron
Leading Actors/Actresses
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez
Genre
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Language
English
Awards
Won 3 Oscars: Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Art Direction
Date of Release
2009
Producer
James Cameron, Jon Landau
Setting and Context
Pandora—a distant land in outer space in the year 2154
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Jake Sully
Tone and Mood
Serious, Dramatic, Fantastical
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Jake. Antagonists are Parker Selfridge and Colonel Miles Quaritch.
Major Conflict
Jake realizes that the RDA from Earth is destroying the sacred grounds of the Na'vi for the natural resource unobtanium, and decides to side with the Na'vi in their fight to preserve their home.
Climax
Jake and the Na'vi win the fight against the RDA and preserve the sacred Tree of Souls.
Foreshadowing
Jake's inability to walk foreshadows his desire to stay in his avatar body which gives him full ability to use his legs. Also, at one point, Grace sarcastically asks Quaritch if he's going to shoot her. Later, he does.
Understatement
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
New motion capture animation technologies, new lighting system which can light an incredibly large area (such as the jungle of Pandora), motion capture stage six times larger than any previously used, full performance capturing for facial expressions on actors. A new cloud computing and Digital Asset Management system named Gaia was created by Microsoft to handle the massive data for the film.
Allusions
The film is an allegory for colonialism and the exploitation of the environment.
Paradox
Jake is integrated with the Na'vi people, even choosing a mate, while still working for the RDA.
Parallelism
Jake being linked to the Tree of Souls parallels Grace's earlier unsuccessful attempt.
