Anatomy of a Film

Being an Avatar fan in 2026 means you exist on two sides of the same coin. On one side, you have to deal with some of the worst possible, sardonic, reductionist takes about the franchise on the both Internet and real life. On the other side, you can rest easy knowing you are better than everyone else for understanding the greatest sci-fi trilogy in cinema. The goal of this article isn’t to tear down any other sci fi classics by any means, such as Back to the Future or Star Wars, but to highlight the merits of Avatar.

Part of what makes the first Avatar movie great is how unapologetically sci-fi it is. It throws you in through the eyes of Jake and it couldn’t be more perfect. The in-universe technology looks great, the cgi is still flawless to this day, and even though the movie has two primary aesthetics, one focused on hyper-militaristic sci-fi and the other focused on nature and basic tools, they are balanced with such an advanced degree of diligence and care. What makes the trilogy great, however, is the advancement in this balance. With each new entry, the technology, CGI, and aesthetic designs and balance continue to evolve in unique and exciting ways. The people involved in making the movie, the characters in the movie, the technology, and the audience truly grow with each new entry. There is beauty to be found there.

It’s no secret that James Cameron is a god amongst men when it comes to Hollywood directors. We all grew up with classics like Terminator 1 & 2, Titanic, and Piranha II: The Spawning. Fun fact: he also wrote one of my favorite sci-fi movies, Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days (1995) and produced one of my favorite heist movies, Point Break (1991), also directed by Bigelow. But then, in 2009, Avatar took the world by storm. I remember being 10 years old and everyone in the family piling into my grandpas car to go see Avatar in 3D. I remember loving the movie, but never really having the opportunity to rewatch it again in the cinema or at home.

Avatar and the world of Pandora became a distant memory for me, until in 2022, the first teaser for Avatar: The Way of Water (which from now on will be called Avatar 2) was released. The hype train began once again. Thanks to a friend of mine, who is an even bigger Avatar fan than me (also named Hunter), the Pandora fever gripped me until it was time to go see Avatar 2. I finally sat down and rewatched Avatar the day before Avatar 2, and immediately fell back in love with the universe. Seeing Avatar 2 the next day sealed my fate of being a lifelong Avatar truther from then on out. The Avatar Trilogy finds itself at #9 on my greatest films of all time list. Yes, I count them all as one. You can’t have any without the other.

I’ve seen the first Avatar movie close to 10 times now and believe it is as perfect as an introduction to a hard sci-fi universe as the original Star Wars. In fact, it’s better, because unlike Luke Skywalker, the main character, Jake Sully, is blue. All jokes aside though, I do think Jake is a better character than Luke. You see real growth and depth and pain and sorrow throughout the trilogy. I know it’s not exactly the most fair comparison, considering Luke’s characterization has been assassinated by Disney for the last 10 years. Moving on from that small rant, the first Avatar establishes our main conflict, world, and characters perfectly. Jake is a man torn between two worlds, no matter what body he finds himself in. In his human form, he is torn between being manipulated by Colonel Quaritch to betray the science team and the Na’vi for the sake of new legs and Unobtainium, and honoring his brother’s legacy by helping serve the science team. In his Na’vi form, he is torn between the world and life he once knew (his human form), and the world he’s fallen in love with (Neytiri, Pandora, and The People). To reduce those levels of complexity down to this being nothing but a white savior film and a blue alien recreation of FernGully is inherently anti-art.

My favorite part of the film as a kid was everything having to do with the nature of Pandora. I loved seeing the plants, the animals, the bugs, the concept of tsahaylu, and how everything glowed in the night. Pandora truly is an enchanting place. If only 10 year old me could have seen the Way of Water. He’d have been freaking out. Instead, 23 year old Hunter just sat there in awe off a 20mg edible and cried when the whales were on screen. That’s a story for the next article, however. As an adult, my favorite part of the first movie is when Jake opens his eyes at the end of the movie. There is so much hope and light and a future behind those eyes.

In the end, it’s no surprise that Jake chooses the Na’vi. Even though he was seen as someone with demon-blood, he was ultimately accepted by The People and welcomed into the Omaticaya clan, even after his betrayal led to the destruction of the Home Tree. Rather than being controlled by the military or the gigacorp leading the Pandora expedition or going back to a dying Earth, he chose life, community, love, and nature. Avatar is a perfect introduction to this world, and continues to age like fine wine 17 years later.