Not as great as expected but good nonetheless

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2009)

Avatar is a fascinating special effects film which gets just about everything right. THe only problems I have with it were a one dimensional character and an average story line that gives us nothing special. Still, people will be awed by the look of this film, and will talk about the effects for a long time to come. It's a shame they won't talk much about the storyline though, or a certain one note character.
The Story of Avatar is set in the future. Earth is dying and their is a moon called Pandora which harbors a mineral that Earth needs to survive. This moon is inhabited by many weird and dangerous creatures, the most important of which is a race of giant blue skinned creatures called the Na'vi. The Na'vi live atop this important substance which is buried in the ground beneath them, and American forces are sent to try and drive the Na'vi off the land so they can mine this element. One person, a scientist by the name of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver who is best known as the female hero in the Alien movies) thinks that they can come to a peaceful compromise with the Na'vi and get what they need. Another, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), believes otherwise and thinks that force is the only answer. He recruits a paraplegic ex-marine named Jake Sully, (Sam Worthington who we last saw in Terminator Salvation) and offers him his legs back in return for some information on the Na'vi which will give the military forces the tactical advantage. Jake agrees.
Since humans can not survive the atmosphere of Pandora, they go in through organic Avatar identities in the form of the Na'vi, while there real bodies sleep peacefully in special machines. Using their brains while sleeping, they are able to control these second bodies and interact with the Na'vi. It is through this new form, that Jake learns about the Na'vi and their ways and falls in love with one of the Na'vi named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana last seen in Star Trek 2009). After nearly three months of living with the Na'vi, he has second thoughts about going to war with these creatures and soon has to choose sides. I will not say whose side he chooses.
THe acting was good, and the pacing was also pretty good for a movie almost three hours long. My only complaint would be with Stephen Lang who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch. His acting wasn't bad at all, but the character itself was too one dimensional, which is also what led to the less than perfect rating.
The plot seems complex, and it is not bad, but it is not an original idea. However, that is not the biggest reason why I only give it an 8 out of 10. Besides the one dimensional character Miles Quaritch mentioned above, the other reason I give it and 8 is because some of the dialoque is lame and corny and seems to take away from what is an excellent special effects extravaganza. If I could rate it on special effects only it would get a 10, but as I've said about movies before, special effects alone don't make a movie great. THe story in Avatar gets about a 6-7 rating which evens the total grade out to and 8. Still not bad, but I was still a little bit let down because of the hype. Recommended, but not a great movie.