If it was not a dramatic situation, there would have been no story.
Cameron did not care to go with "ravening sci-fi monster" as the antagonist, this time.
And this is a valid story that has been told many times, even by - for instance - Heinlein. The establishment really and truly does go in and try to mess things up for and rob the natives from time to time. That's what the Republicans and Libertarians have claimed was happening to them for years.