Jake Sully is a handicapped war veteran living
a monotonous life in the States.
His daily routine consists of regretting his
life choices, getting into bar fights, and
reminiscing his past glory days.
But little did he know that his life is about
to turn upside down.
One day, some officials approach him and mention
that his twin brother; Tom, has been murdered.
Jake is devastated by the news, but the officials
want to hire him to complete his brother’s
unfinished work.
Turns out that Tom was planning to investigate
a newly found planet called Pandora, that
apparently supports life like Earth.
Jake thinks about the proposition for a while,
but when the officials mention that he will
be paid in millions, he agrees right away.
Following this, he is put into six years of
cryosleep to prepare for the mission.
When he awakens, he finds himself with several
other passengers on the way to Pandora.
Jake was given this special chance since he
and his sibling have a perfect genetic match.
In the next scene, Jake and the rest of the
crew are transported to Pandora in a shuttle.
Everyone is told to wear full-face respirators
since the planet’s atmosphere is too toxic
for humans to survive; only 20 seconds of
exposure will kill them in four minutes.
After landing on the mysterious planet, Jake
right away goes to a military briefing where
Colonel Miles Quaritch is speaking to the
gathering soldiers and several accompanying
civilians.
He informs them of Pandora’s native people,
the Navi, and adds that if they want to survive,
they must abide by the laws here.
Later, Jake visits a research facility where
he meets biologist Norm Spellman.
She gives him the first glimpse of his own
programmed avatar.
It is then explained that if a human connects
to their avatar; which is a genetically engineered
Navi hybrid, they can blend in the planet
of Pandora and act like the Navis.
Following this, as Jake and Norm walk into
the science department, the program’s science
lead, Dr. Grace Augustine, awakens in a specially
made pod that connects her to her avatar.
Norm tries to introduce her to Jake, but she
seems angry and storms out of the room.
Grace then confronts the base commander and
a representative of the Resources Development
Administration (RDA): Parker Selfridge.
RDA is a company that is in charge of all
military and other employees stationed at
the colony.
She makes an attempt to convince Parker that
Jake is useless since he lacks working legs
and is not a scientist.
However, Park responds by saying that Jake
is the only person who has genes like his
brother; Tom, which is essential in triggering
his Avatar.
The next morning, Jake and Norm are connected
to their avatars back in the lab.
Soon after,
Jake’s avatar awakens in a separate room.
Surprisingly, he can now move his legs and
walk around, something which he hasn’t done
in years.
Elated, he ignores his physicians’ orders
and runs to the recreation area where several
other avatars are participating in sports
and enjoying themselves.
Later, when Jake’s avatar sleeps, the link
is broken and he awakens in his human form.
Next, he meets the Colonel and strikes up
a conversation.
Jake inquires about the true purpose of their
visit to this planet, and the Colonel finally
lets him in on the truth.
Apparently, Pandora houses an extremely rare
form of rock known as Unobtanium, which is
worth Billions on earth.
The best and the largest Unobtainium rocks
are found inside the community the Navi people
reside in.
But since they will not see their land being
taken over by humans, Jake will have to somehow
convince them to move away.
The Colonell mentions that Jake has 3 months
to perfectly blend in with the Navi people
and persuade them to find another home.
If the mission is successful, Jake will be
given a new pair of legs.
However, at the end of 3 months, if the Navi
people still refuse to move, a military team
will be deployed, which will likely wipe out
the entire race.
The next day, Jake connects with his Avatar
and flies over Pandora’s surface alongside
Grace, Norm, and some others.
Soon, they land at a place and begin collecting
flora samples.
But Jake, who is very new to the unusual surroundings,
becomes disoriented and stumbles into a field
of flowers.
Just then, a strange animal—a thanator,
that resembles a panther—comes from behind
and chases Jake, isolating him from his companions.
Luckily, he manages to save himself by diving
into a waterfall, with the thanator roaring
over him.
Jake’s crew looks for him for some time, but
they soon leave when it starts getting dark.
At night, having lost all his weapons, Jake
can be seen sharpening a long stick into a
spear.
Meanwhile, a female Navi is observing him
from above.
She prepares to shoot him with an arrow but
stops when a mysterious, glowing entity lands
on her bow.
At the same time, a group of viper wolves
attack Jake.
This time, it seems as if he has met his doom,
but the female Navi surprisingly steps forward
to his aid and chases the wolves away.
However, she is not pleased with Jake and
instructs him to return back to his rightful
place.
She then prepares to leave but Jake starts
following her.
He also requests that she teach him survival
skills.
At first, the Navi refuses to help him, but
when several of the mysterious glowing entities
from earlier land on Jake’s body, she gets
impressed and takes him to her place, Omaticayan.
She also introduces herself as Neytiri.
However, when they reach the said place, the
Navi people immediately become hostile towards
the outsider.
In particular, Neytiri’s fiance, and the
next in line to the throne; Tsu ‘Tey, wants
the hybrid human executed immediately.
However, Neytiri stops them and brings Jake
to her parents, who also happen to be the
tribe’s king and queen.
Jake explains to them that he is a
fighter and that his goal is to learn about
their culture and tradition.
When the queen hears this, she pricks his
chest and licks his blood.
She then deduces that he has a pure spirit
and asks Neytiri to be his teacher and help
him.
After a ritual gathering, Jake is brought
to his bed which encircles him like a cocoon.
As he falls asleep, human Jake is revived
from the chamber.
In the morning, he shares his unreal experience
with all the scientists, including Grace.
But once again, the Colonel reminds him that
he has only 3 months to complete his mission.
The next scene shows human Jake reporting
on his experiences via a video log that he
records after each day’s activities.
He talks about how his Avatar is busy training
with Neytiri.
One day, she asks him to choose a skown, a
strange looking animal for his ride.
Initially, he is skeptical about the idea,
but after a lot of insisting, he chooses one
and attaches his neural queue to its antenna.
He then learns how to steer the skown and
enjoys riding it.
Later, human Jake informs the Colonel and
Parker about the enormous Hometree, the Navi’s
residence, and a significant unobtanium deposit
beneath it.
The Colonel sees an opportunity to destroy
the tree but Jake requests he be allowed to
negotiate with the Navi and convince them
to leave.
In the meantime, Grace learns that Jake is
being manipulated, so she relocates him to
the
Hallelujah Mountains, a secluded location
of enormous, floating islands that are holy
to the Navi
It turns out that she is on Pandora just to
research the place, and wants nothing to do
with the Unobtanium rocks.
One day, while Jake and Neytiri are flying
on their skowns, they are unexpectedly pursued
by a Toruk, a vividly colored flying mountain
monster that hates anything that flies.
Fortunately, they manage to escape to the
Hometree and Neytiri shows Jake the remains
of a former toruk.
She reveals that the last person to ride a
toruk was her great-grandfather, who did it
to bring together the five Navi tribes during
a tough period.
Neytiri adds that since decades, no one has
even dared to ride a Toruk.
With the days passing by, the Navi tribe finally
starts accepting Jake as one of their own,
and they even hold a ceremony to honor him.
After the ceremony, Neytiri takes him to a
place of prayer where they utilize the nerve
endings at the end of their long hair to establish
a connection with a tree.
Neytiri informs him that he may now pick a
woman as a wife.
Jake thinks for a while and reveals that he
wants to marry her.
Neytiri is clearly astounded, but she accepts
the proposal and the two kiss.
After this, the new couple spends their night
together under the tree and Jake gains back
consciousness in the lab.
In the morning, Neytiri awakens to falling
trees and notices a number of bulldozers around,
destroying the place.
She realizes that they are being attacked
and tries her best to drag Jake to safety.
Meanwhile, at their remote spot, Jake is getting
ready to link with his avatar and when he
finally revives, he climbs onto one of the
bulldozers and tries to stop it.
When nothing works, he
smashes its camera system, compelling the
soldiers to fire at him.
Fortunately, Jake manages to escape and reach
the Hometree.
Back at the base, the Colonel watches the
surveillance tape and identifies Jake as the
avatar who attempted to thwart their mission.
Enraged, he then enters the room and looks
for Jake and Grace while the bulldozers continue
to work and destroy the Omaticayas’ sacred
place.
Meanwhile, the Navis assemble under the Hometree
and resolve to battle the invaders.
Jake and Grace protest against it and make
an effort to stop them from doing so.
However, the warrior; Tsu’Tey, tries to kill
Jake after knowing that he and Neytiri are
mated for life despite him being betrothed
to her.
As the situation heats up, suddenly, both
Grace and Jake’s avatars fall unconscious
as the links between them and their human
forms are abruptly broken by the Colonel.
In the next scene, the RDA and military commanders
are confronted by an angry Grace, who discloses
that the Navi can access a network made out
of Pandora’s trees that has more neurological
connections than the human brain.
She and Jake then state that the Navis will
never move out of their place, the Hometree.
Hearing this, the Colonel decides to invade
the Hometree and use gas bombs to drive the
Navis away.
Alarmed, Jake begs the base commander; Parker,
to allow him to use his avatar so that he
can convince the Navis to leave.
Parker obliges, but he warns that Jake has
only one hour to achieve his objective.
Once he is back among the Navis, he informs
them that they are under invasion from humans
and admits that he is one of them.
Neytiri, hearing this, pushes Jake for betraying
her trust.
The other Navis are equally devastated, so
they abduct Jake and Grace as hostages.
After this, they prepare to fight the humans,
who have arrived in a large number of flying
ships.
Then, the war begins.
The Navis try their best but their bows and
arrows are of no match against the human’s
heavy artillery.
Unfortunately, after several explosions, the
Hometree is eventually brought down, which
kills several Navis in the process.
During the chaos, the queen unexpectedly returns
to the captive humans and releases them.
She then begs them to save their tribe.
Wasting no time, Jake approaches Neytiri and
tries to console her but to no avail.
During the assault, Neytiri’s father is mortally
wounded, and as he passes away, he demands
that she take his sacred bow and lead his
people.
Suddenly, Jake and Grace return to their human
form and are immediately detained for treason.
Norm is also apprehended for attempting to
stop troops from shutting down their avatar
forms.
Meanwhile, the remaining Navi’s regroup
at the Tree of Souls.
Back at the base, Jake and his friends are
secretly released by their team pilot; Trudy.
They then fly away in her spacecraft, and
attempt to reach the Navis.
Unfortunately, along the way, the evil Colonel
notices them and shoots at the spacecraft.
Grace is seriously injured and it appears
as if she is going to bleed out.
After a while, the group reaches the floating
mountains, where Jake jumps inside a pod and
awakens as his avatar.
Knowing that the Navis will not accept him,
he then makes the audacious choice to call
upon his skown and go on a mission to locate
the toruk.
His strategy is simple but can easily result
in his death.
Jake then slowly approaches the dangerous
toruk from above and jumps on its back.
Then, in the midst of an Omaticayan ritual,
we see him riding the toruk to the Tree of
Souls.
This shocks all the Navis and they finally
welcome him back with the utmost respect.
Then, Jake asks the warrior; Tsu’tey for assistance
in battling the human army, and the latter
complies.
With the Navis now by his side, Jake attempts
to save his dying friend; Grace, and even
enlists the queen’s help.
However, all their efforts go in vain as Grace
succumbs to her injuries.
This fuels Jake’s anger and he motivates
the Navis to unite and chase the humans away.
By the end of the day, they approach their
rival clans and gather around 2000 additional
Navis.
Meanwhile, the Colonel notices the Navis in
large numbers and shifts his attention towards
the tree of souls.
So, he orders his men and marches towards
the location.
But to his surprise, the Navis also show up,
both on land and on air.
Jake is flying on his legendary Toruk while
Tsu’Tey and other warriors are ready to sacrifice
themselves for their land.
Soon, a deadly battle begins, and dead bodies
start piling up on both sides.
But this time, because of the skowns, the
human artillery slowly begins faltering.
In the midst of all this, Jake is pursued
and shot by the Colonel’s Dragonfly ship.
Fortunately, Trudy arrives there in time and
opens fire at the Colonel, providing Jake
with enough time to flee.
On the other hand, Neytiri’s skown is shot
down and killed while Tsu’Tey is also killed
in an explosion.
From the ground, Neytiri observes the devastation
and starts panicking.
In the meantime, a large bomb ship approaches
the Tree of Souls.
It seems like the humans are going to have
their way, but suddenly, through what’s left
of the surrounding forest, a battalion of
Titanotheres, Pandora’s heavily armored dinosaur-like
animals, arrive and start attacking the soldiers.
Overjoyed, Neytiri rejoins the fight with
many several of Pandora’s species behind her.
Surprisingly, when a thanator appears nearby,
it bows to her submissively.
Then, as the military’s ground forces scatter
in confusion, Jake raises his toruk into the
air to meet the bomb ship.
He then throws grenades at the ship, forcing
it to crash far from the Tree of Souls.
Jake also launches explosives at the Colonel’s
spacecraft, but the latter escapes in an AMP
suit before it catches fire and explodes.
Unfortunately, the Colonel discovers himself
at Grace’s makeshift camp.
He tries to turn off Jake’s avatar pod but
at the same time, the thanator that Neytiri
had linked with attacks him.
Surprisingly, he successfully kills it with
his suit, trapping Neytiri underneath it.
But before the Colonel gets a chance to assassinate
her, Jake arrives at the scene in his avatar.
The two then start going back and forth, but
in the end, the Colonel gains an upper hand.
He is about to finish off Jake, but at that
very moment, Neytiri gets up and shoots an
arrow at the Colonel, impaling him in the
chest.
Without wasting any time, she fires a second
arrow, which instantly kills the Colonel.
However, before his death, he has already
done enough damage to Jake’s pod.
Because of this, human Jake is awake but having
difficulty both breathing and trying to get
a mask on.
Thankfully, Neytiri shows up and assists him
in getting his mask.
She then cradles human Jake and gets a good
look at his real body for the first time.
In the last scene, Jake signs out of his final
video log, telling us that he has been chosen
to permanently transfer his consciousness
to his avatar.
The film concludes with a ritual in which
Jake awakens in his avatar form, with Neytiri
watching over him.
