It's a must see, but only for a few years

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2009)

Avatar is definitely a must see feature, if you're going to the cinema in 2009-2010. It's a sumptuous cinematic smörgåsbord, and takes visual pleasure to new heights.
However, the scriptwriting and story would have been thrown out - or at least covered in big red question marks - at even the most basic screen writing class.
The first fifteen minutes of the film is loaded with exposition, the hour after that includes some interesting developments that hold some promise, but the story implodes in the last hour as one plot possibility after another is sold out in order to set up nothing more than literally explosive highlights, and emotional clichés.
It continues to look fantastic, but its story devolves into simplistic nonsense.
You pay for 3D glasses (well worthwhile), but watch a one dimensional story.
In another few years, many other films will be using computer generated animation in this way, but they'll be doing it with far, far superior story-lines.
In the meantime, despite these severe criticisms, the film is a must-see for movie buffs.
I strongly suspect it will be little more than a subject of trivia questions ten years from now.
Be prepared to turn a blind eye to its shortcomings, and enjoy it... while you can.