I eat all my words Mr. Cameron...Avatar is thee greatest sci-fi epic of all time

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2010)

So what do I mean when I say I eat my words? Well it annoyed me that the fact that James Cameron was the sole reason to see Avatar. Yes he's a renowned director but I don't even consider him in the same league as a Spielberg or a Scorcese (not that I am a huge fan of Scorcese personally.) I didn't quite understand the "visionary" everyone thought he was. Yes he's done some solid action/sci-fi flicks and yes he managed to direct Titanic to record breaking greatness but was this enough to base Avatar solely on? Well I miss the Titanic of boats because James Cameron's decade long labor of love might be at the very least one of the great film epics ever made. Hands down if nothing else Avatar is the most visually stunning piece of film you will ever see (and I didn't see it in 3D YET.) As many have said the CGI in the film which is practically 99% of the entire film is nearly flawless and the work put into the Na'vi people especially the main characters is just amazing. Add in the fact that there are some genuinely incredible performances and an entire world built from the ground up and sci-fi lovers will be floored this creation. It still won't be the type of film to reach out to all genres but it is quite possibly one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Sam Worthington is quickly becoming someone to watch for in Hollywood. He leads the cast in Avatar with skill and a brooding personality. Unfortunately for him Worthington is not the strongest in this cast. He does well and yet his character doesn't have nearly the depth of some of the others. Still this should do amazing things for his future. Zoe Saldana on the other hand is mind blowingly brilliant. She gives the performance of her career and does it all behind the shadow of a CGI character proving that talent and brilliance can shine through even in voice and computer capture. Her character shows so much incredible emotion and is so brilliant, she should be given an Oscar just for those merits alone. She is stunning. Sigourney Weaver slips back into sci-fi brilliance as Dr. Grace Augustine. She goes through a range of personality changes but is definitely a character you can feel empathy for. Yes she also smokes in the movie...please get over it. It's a character flaw, millions smoke. And just as a side note this woman who is a lovely FIFTY NINE YEARS OLD...looks incredible. Stephen Lang gives us a performance that just may be one of the great film villains of all time. First of all he simply looks bad ass. Second of all he gives a strong, surly, performance that admittedly is a little two dimensional (get the irony) he serves his purpose as evil villain and pulls it off amazingly. Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi (amazing cameo role), Joel Moore (great character actor) and the entire cast that play the supporting Na'Vi characters are all brilliant in their own way. Some stand out more than others but the entire cast comes together perfectly.
I just always though director and writer James Cameron had a run of good luck with Titanic and his earlier works in Aliens and True Lies and creating the Terminator world. But when you look at his body of work he's never done a bad movie. The man knows science fiction and Avatar has really been his thesis, his ultimate show and he accomplished it in a big way. Maybe I'm over hyping the film but it's just been a really long time since I was riveted to my seat, transported like this film did for me in the theater, make me want to see it again the moment the credits wrapped. If you are one of the people who has not contributed to the 1.4 billion dollar take I suggest you get out there and add to it because this film deserves to be #1 film of all time. I can't go right out there and say my favorite of all time yet but top five at the very least. Let's face it Titanic was your Grandma's movie...this one is for us. You are King of The World Mr. Cameron...the world and Pandora. 10/10 and then some
ADDITION---February 5th/2010 I had the pleasure of seeing Avatar for a second time and saw it in 3D. Was it impressive? Yes. The technology is very impressive and looks cool. Did it change the entire face of the movie? Sorry folks...it didn't for me. The movie is incredible but its incredible because its Avatar, not because of the 3D. I'm glad I saw it and it was on an IMAX screen so it was explosively cool but the movie is great on its own and gains very very little in 3D except a lot of depth.