Good, not great

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2010)

Overall, it's a good movie, but not a great film. I see this, more or less, as the Star Wars of our generation. It's a visual effects spectacle that's all the more astounding given that the setting is an alien planet. As Sam Worthington's character familiarizes himself with the planet, we sit in awe of the beautifully detailed scenery and the impressively animated creatures. Certain scenes become all the more better thanks to the visual effects.
However, the story fails to match up to the lush visuals. The film essentially boils down to environmentally-friendly natives fighting against the evil invaders and their bad machines. Most of the characters are not compelling enough for you to care about them, especially the protagonist - Sam Worthington's character is nothing more than another dumb soldier-turned-rebel hero. Sigourney Weaver's character, with her caustic wit, and Michelle Rodriguez's character, with her steely nerves, are by far the best of the bunch; the other characters are mostly ho-hum.
I think James Cameron was trying to make this movie as palatable as possible to all cultures, which would explain the clichéd storyline and the dry characters. Movies like these focus more on visuals and battle scenes. Crafting a good script or building a truly memorable cast of characters comes second, unfortunately.
Good movie, but not a great film.