Avatar would seem to beg the question of what is more important in movies, the story or the allegory. But after about 15 minutes of the 162-minute mammoth, the underlying concept is easily recognized (you don’t even need to see the movie to understand it), and what seems more important is the action taking place on the Earth-sized, verdant moon called Pandora. Cameron obviously wants us to understand that this is cowboys and Indians set in 2154, that this is American imperialism, guns and steel, against tribal yet valuable land. History is doomed to repeat itself, and the way of Hollywood blockbusters is destined to push new ground in f/x. I thought it didn’t get anymore chaotic than King Kong, and then I saw Avatar.

It would be so much easier for Americans to just take the subtlety named black rock called Unobtanium (who knows what the hell it actually does) if Pandora wasn’t inhabited by jungle jumping, bushwhacking pituitary cases known as the Na’vi. Pandora is their land, and they are pissed that we’re there. Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), a seamy industrialist, is heading up a mining operation. He doesn’t want to kill the natives because it looks bad five light years away on Earth, so that is why there is Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), names befitting of their attitudes, to head up the Avatar program and find a “diplomatic solution.” The duplicitous marine, Jack Sully (Sam Worthinton), trying so hard to please his gung-ho commander, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), and get his “real” legs back, inadvertently becomes apart of the very tribe he was sent to infiltrate — classic conflict. This is the narrative that Cameron has chosen, a plot both topical and at the back of a long line of similar ones: Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, Pocahontas, Shock Corridor, Donnie Brasco, Mother Night. The list goes on and on. Avatar doesn’t stop there. It repeatedly kicks your ass while you sit and stare, wearing 3-D glasses or not. The paraplegic Sully is used as a host for his surrogate avatar because his genetic makeup is a match originally intended for his twin brother. Soon, the Na’vi take interest in Sully because he is the first alien warrior they have met, and it’s up to Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) to teach him the way of the gigantic cat-people. They not only wrangle hideous horse looking things but also hideous flying things. They operate on a level so harmonious with nature that we humans, especially capitalist Americans, can’t understand. The textbook storyline is already laid out in front of us. Metaphorically, nothing comes as a surprise in this movie. Once the exposition is over, the shock and awe sets in, and we look at the pretty images, action scenes and sappy love. This is what the movie has been hyped and criticized for. You should settle in and get used to it. This is James Cameron doing what he does best — giving us action. I said history is doomed to repeat itself, and that’s a fact. The final battle is a futuristic re-telling of The Battle of the Little Bighorn. It’s Colonel Miles Quaritch’s last stand. Hopefully, the old adage is incorrect, and all glory is not fleeting.

If the name James Cameron sounds unfamiliar to you, I’m sure the movie Titanic doesn’t. That was in 1997. Over a decade later and an unfathomable budget of $280 million dollars, Avatar was made. Cameron entertains us for 162 minutes. That is what blockbusters do. They don’t aim to impart; they inject us with fantasy. So, if after seeing this, you find yourself stark alone in some back alley — on the nod — and mumbling incoherently, don’t fret. I have a feeling that Cameron knew this would happen. After just slanging us his latest product, we’re free to wander the streets, searching for our next entertainment fix.

Quin Benzel is a movie buff who is never short on Altoids. He can be reached at quin@vanvoice.com