"Pave Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot"

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2017)

If the Story seems Derivative and Clichéd, it is because Human Behavior, as Witnessed by History is Derivative and Clichéd. In Other Words, it's Predictable.
James Cameron's "Avatar" is Wholly Predictable and is Dumbed Down for All to Watch and Learn, a Noble Effort considering that Not Much has been Learned from History Books and Intellectual Exercises ad nauseum.
This Engrossing Film is a Visual Treat. An Artistic Modernist Wet Dream full of Fanciful Flourishes of Day-Glo Psychedelica turning the Planet of Pandora into a Floral and Fauna Fantasyland with Inherent Illumination and Illustrious Imaginative Jungle Jive.
It's a Hoot. The "Animals", of Foot and Flight, are Familiar Unfamiliarities. A Cross between Earth's Prehistoric Past and Pandora's Pristine Gleam Untreated by Colonialist.
The "Tree of Life" for the Natives is a Tree-Huggers Heavenly Sent Icon. Awesome, Gargantuan, and according to Folklore (and as it turns out science), it is the Organic Operating System and Central Hub of Everything on the Planet.
Environmental Concerns and a Live and Let Live Philosophy are Elemental to the Sophomoric Script. The Black Hat/White Hat Characters are neither Complex nor do They Surprise. It's all just Magnificent Backdrop Eye-Candy and Dreamscape for another "Us vs Them".
The Movie Transports to a Realm where Humans have Traveled and Humans just do what Humans Do. This isn't the Stuff of High Intellect or PHd Thesis.
It is Storybook Adventure and while the Story is Certainly Adventurous and Captivating and quite a Roller Coaster Ride, the Detractors that Rail Against the Film's Dumb Dialog and Stereotypical People and Situations have a Point.
But the Movie's Point is as Sharp as an Arrow. Once Again, even a couple of Hundred Years in the Future, We as a Species are forever Predictable so even on another Planet We......."Pave Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot".