Great Movie for What it is...an Action Film

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2009)

I liked JC's return to the big screen here - it is pretty epic but I really hope they keep the world to just this one movie as it's pretty much told everything we need to know. I wasn't too excited about seeing a 60% SFX / 40% live action split but I was pleasantly surprised by this product (saw the 3D version). Some of the plot lines a seasoned veteran can spot coming a mile away but that doesn't detract from the above-average acting and stunning computer visuals. I think the greatest challenge to any SciFi "thinker" like Cameron has always been in creating an "alien" world that is wholly unique, not just another movie filmed in Hawaii or the Sahara - I think JC accomplishes that here with all his little details in the terrain and the alien environment. His alien natives are well developed though obviously borrowing a TON from man's world history. You can easily relate the situation in this movie (the Big Bully versus David) to much of what's already been made of humankind - America forcibly taking lands and driving out the Native Americans, the British/German/Belgium/France/Spain/Portugal/Italy rape of Africa - sad to note but we're no better to one another let alone to this peaceful alien race. That aside, Avatar plays it well - perhaps a bit too "eco-crazy" for those Republicans out there - but a great action movie at its core nonetheless. The 3D version didn't add much to my overall experience BTW - it really just adds a little visual depth with the camera target staying in focus while the entire scene is "layered" in front and behind the target. So you'll see passing leaves and embers moving about in front of you - nothing too distracting/overtly cool there.