Definitely different, in a good way, and 3D not as bad as I thought

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2009)

Let me first say that I am not a fan of 3D. My vision is good but I do not have good depth perception so 3D things usually seem out of focus and annoying to me. The old red/blue glasses or even the gray ones at Disneyworld and such are distracting and annoying so I have avoided most 3D things. I really wanted to see Avatar though so I braved it. I am happy to say that the 3D was MUCH better than I thought. There are no things coming at you or cheap tricks about it and it really did make things seem deeper and more alive. The glasses were much better than I had thought and I did not find them distracting. If other 3D movies are done even partly as well as this, I will definitely see 3D again.
Now, as to the movie itself, I had to keep reminding myself that all that I was watching was computer animation. It is extremely easy to believe that it is real. It does not look like a video game or any animation I have ever seen before. Wow does not cover it. As I have seen new things in movies (whether Star Wars, superman flying, etc.) that marked advances in technology, I have always been amazed and this was no exception. It is easy to believe the things you see in the movie and that helps keep you in the story and entertained. Cheap FX can ruin a good movie or too much FX can overwhelm a movie. In this one, the FX are just there and are outstanding while a good story is told.
The story is a rather old one and not too unique. As you can tell from the plot summaries, it is similar to the US with the American Indiains or many other incidents of one culture encountering another who has a resource the first culture needs. So the story itself is acceptable but it is the manner of telling the story and developing it that makes this movie rate a 10 to me.
It is hard to comment on much without seeming to spoil something. I can say that the movie initially feels like you came in late and missed the first few chapters of a book or 10 minutes of the movie but it is okay because they do quickly fill in the blanks. I found myself leaving the theater wishing there was more to see and wanting to see more about the world of Pandora. One of my favorite things is that they took the time to explain why the aliens can speak and understand English (a common thing in most movies that usually gets overlooked) and it is just a sign of how careful James Cameron was with the elements of this movie.
It is a definite Must See and one I highly recommend seeing in the theater since you will miss a great deal not seeing this on the big screen. I now wish I had an IMAX near me to try to see it in IMAX.