Yes folks, the hype is real. All roads have led to this.

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2009)

Take the DNA of an alien, mix it with the DNA of a human being & you get... an avatar - a genetically engineered body designed to be remotely controlled by a human being, so that they can completely immerse themselves in an alien world. Take the DNA of every science fiction/fantasy special effects film that has ever existed, mix it with a bit of the DNA of a western, a war movie, political/environmental allegory, add 300 million dollars, the best special effects teams known to man, & a mad genius directing the experiment... & the result is Avatar - a technically engineered masterpiece designed to completely immerse human beings in an alien world. Yes folks, the hype is real. All roads have led to this.
Does it change cinema forever? Yes & No. Yes, it does in the same way A Trip to the Moon, King Kong, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, 2001, Star Wars, Tron, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, The Matrix & The Lord of the Rings changed cinema. They all set the bar, & in most instances invented the bar by which all that followed them would be measured. No, in the way that most of the films which immediately followed them could not reach the bar they had set by a long shot. So, rather than describing it as changing cinema forever, I'd prefer to say that Avatar is a 10 ft tall monstrous blue milestone in special effects and for film in general.
I couldn't even begin to imagine watching this film at home on even the best large screen, HD TV or computer monitor... which I think was part of James Cameron's goal in making this film... to bring people back to the theaters. For, it is a film that, in my opinion (and I would be willing to bet money that James Cameron thinks so too), is not intended to be viewed in anything less than the largest movie theater you can find, in the jaw droppingly beautiful 3D technology which Cameron himself developed for this film.
I am notoriously difficult to please when it comes to computer generated special FX. Especially CGI characters. It comes down to the question of genuinely caring about them. Do I get that feeling of nervousness for a characters' safety as they balance on the narrow ledge of a mountain where one false step might lead to their plummeting thousands of feet to their death? Do I get that feeling of tingly excitement when they master flight for the first time and majestically and heroically soar across an expansive alien landscape? Do I relate to the deep emotion of two characters falling in love? Or the pain they feel when experiencing death? Can I shed a tear for a being that is nothing more than a pixel? There has only been one other completely CGI animated character in all of film history in which the answer to these questions was yes - Lord of the Rings' Gollum. Yet, I will admit that as much as I believed in the existence of Gollum, there was still a sense of distance, moments in which my mind could not forget that he was not made of flesh. That did not occur with Avatar. Aside from two sequences I didn't care for depicting a spiritual ceremony, I never once doubted that these incredible creatures and world existed.
I feel that there are three reasons for this success. 1. The obvious, which is the superior talent of the FX teams who created it. 2. The setting of an alien world that appears to share some of our own DNA allows us to recognize certain familiarities in the way we expect things should look, move and operate... but it is also foreign enough that we can accept certain variations to those expectations. And 3. James Cameron has stated that part of the reason he chose to utilize 3D in the way he did was that by applying the 3D technology to this CGI world, it immerses the audience in a way that imbues the realistic depth that is missing from all previous attempts at fully CGI characters and environments.
Now, to step away for a moment from the technical aspects of the film... The story is more than Dances with Wolves in space, although it is definitely that. It is also directly analogous to the destruction of the Amazon rainforests, our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the privatization of war that has given rise to the age of military for hire such as BlackWater and lots of other 'liberal' story lines ranging from our treatment of the environment, our lustful depletion of natural resources, and general displacement of native peoples and other native species (Sigourney Weavers' character is more Gorillas in the Mist's Dian Fossey than Alien's Ripley.)
Avatar is far from perfect. There are some plot inconsistencies, some silly writing and acting at times bordering on camp (such as the silly name 'Unobtaineum' - the highly desired substance substituting for oil), and there are some things I personally feel would have improved the non- effects aspects of the film - such as a slightly slower pace at times... which could have allowed for more time to explore and wonder at the sights and sounds of the world, and more intimate time spent with the characters.
But truthfully, whatever small flaws exist in Avatar, they are dwarfed, overcome and forgotten by the magical achievements of the film as a whole. And for someone as critical as I am, that is saying a lot. Prepare yourself to see a whole slew of films try and replicate what this one has accomplished. We will most likely sit thru many poor attempts before we reach the next one that does... and by that time, we will most likely already be reaching the next important film milestone.