OK, why did nobody tell me about AVATAR?

Rating: 5/10 (28 February 2010)

AVATAR is a film like no other, one not so much filmed as it is built, using motion capture technology and three-dimensional doohickery. And AVATAR is, to that end, the most wicked 3-D movie ever made In every other dimension, however, the only astonishing thing about this film is how average it is.
Cameron, it appears, doesn't have any real interest in contributing to cinematic dialectic apart from advancing its technology. He fills his brave new world with recognizable characters, well-trod arcs, and stock themes. Take for example "Saheri," the electro-chemical bond that flows through the Na'vi, into all living things on Pandora. In one scene, as Sully attempts to ride a wild creature (one of several,) and Neytiri shouts out "Saheri," Cameron might as well have subtitled it 'use the force!' That's not to say all this doesn't work as it should, just that the feeling one gets when sitting through the exposition of Saheri isn't awe, it's a gentle sense of déjà vu. And, though it's not exactly ill-conceived, (Cameron set out to make a record-breaker, and that he has made,) this inescapable familiarity works against the capital 'N' Novelty that's the only real triumph of the film.
READ THE REST OF MY REVIEW (AND MORE) AT STEVENSPIELBLOG.COM ...
-Greg