The story is unoriginal, the dialogs are flat, and the premise is clichéd; but the visuals and special effects are absolutely stunning!

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2009)

My review on this film is purely based on watching the IMAX 3-D screening. If you are planning on watching "Avatar", spend the extra money and watch it in IMAX 3-D! The regular format would be a waste of the pure creative efforts that was dedicated to this film.
Even though the story is unoriginal, the dialogs are flat, and the premise is cliché; the visuals and special effects are absolutely stunning! The imagination to create the colorful extraterrestrial jungle is amazing and the action sequences are incredible. Raising the bar on special effects & action sequences are what James Cameron does best. He dazzled movie goers with "Aliens (1986)", then "The Abyss (1989)", then "Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)", and then "Titanic (1997)". "Avatar" cost nearly $300 million to make and like all James Cameron films, you can see every single penny that was spent on this film. The movie had the best 3-D effects than any other films that I've ever seen. It was very rare that anything ever jumped out at you, but the 3-demensional look throughout the entire movie was extraordinary.
As for the story, it was a generic tale where the main character's mission is to assimilate with a foreign civilization with an intended agenda; but he falls in love with a native and begins to appreciate their culture that he becomes torn between their society and his own. It's like a futuristic version of "Dances with Wolves" where the Na'vi culture and language are similar to Native Americans; including a lot of current political metaphors that are tied in with messages that are portrayed in the film. Even the final battle scene is very similar to the Battle of Endor in "Return of the Jedi". The dialogs are just as bland as James Cameron's previous film "Titanic", but watching the creative world that he produced with the images of the special effects & action sequences are the types of experiences that all movie goers are hoping for when they are expecting to see a highly action packed movie where the visuals will astound them.
I have to stress that if you decide to watch this film in a regular format or wait till home video, you will NOT be able to fully appreciate or enjoy the spectacular experience of watching this film the way it was intended for us. I wish the story was better & more original, but I really enjoyed the refreshing movie experience that I always get whenever I watch a highly over-budget film by James Cameron. I can always rely on him for putting the extra effort into dazzling us with his creative & imaginative action sequences.