At surface a boy's fantasy, but really a chick flick.

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2009)

After seeing the movie last night, I finally understood what took Cameron so long to come up with this film. After TITANIC, he had gone on a quest to see and feel our earth. At the peak of Hollywood success, who would have thought a man would just disappear and start shooting documentaries? But now after seeing AVATAR in 3D, I begin to see what he has seen over the years out there in the wild. I begin to feel how he has felt when being out there with the Mother Nature. Many people praise how imaginative this guy is, but they don't see the countless field trips spent shooting the real thing. If this were a film Cameron conjured up for 4 years solely sitting in an office, it would be a disaster, a definite failure - no matter what magics the special effects team can produce, or how many millions could be poured into it, or what hacks the studio can hire to churn out a smart screenplay. instead, this movie is based on reality, on the very personal experience of a sensitive soul. Its value lies herein.
This is also a romantic tragedy, of Shakespean proportion, despite a contrived happy ending. 2/3rd into the movie, I am in love with the girl, Neytiri. And just like Jake Sully, this love is unobtainable. After the movie, I actually laughed at my insanity: What the heck am I doing? That 10 ft tall blue creature does not exist, but I still want her phone number. If there is one regrettable aspect of the movie, that is the far-fetched body-transfer plot in the story. This could have been a classic tragedy of epic proportion had Jake NOT been able to transform into the alien, and forever it remains a wet dream. Then this would indeed venture into a new territory where few movies have explored before. In fact the suggestions are there: near the end when Jake is suffocating to death, Neytiri founds him and saves his life. Now I don't recall these two have met face to face before, and that proves they are truly soul-mates irregardless of appearances. At this moment, for me this is the real climax of the entire movie, better than the thrill on top of the Banshee, better than the fight and explosions among the mountains, better than the 3D visual effects. At that moment, all tricks lost their fancy, and its the love that finally elevates this film to another dimension. At the core this is really a chick's flick - just like TITANIC.