Benchmark movie of our generation

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2009)

Movies are escapism. They take us to other worlds, based in our reality or not, and tell us stories. These stories either reflect the best or worst of our natures, our dreams and nightmares, and communicate these themes on multiple levels. It has been said of many movies that 'it takes you to another world/place/time'. Only with "Avatar" is this true.
There's not much to say about the movie that watching the film won't say for itself, so it's pointless to try and communicate that here. Instead, I want to focus on the experience. I watched 'Avatar' on IMAX-3D and, despite not seeing it in any other format, can confidently say this is the ONLY way to see it. At the end of the movie, I didn't want it to be over. I wanted to stay in Pandora. Never has a movie had an effect on me like this. I was literally, in every sense of the word, transported to another world, another time. To say the visuals are stunning and breathtaking are paltry adjectives for such eloquent film making.
Many people have and will degrade the movie for it's 'lack of an original story'. What they don't understand is that this is not an 'American' movie, if you will. The film's story is taken from legend, legend that a thousand cultures across the planet share, and roots it firmly and beautifully in another world. It's characters and mythology are anchored in the human subconscious, which allows the audiences to fully embrace this new world Cameron has shown us.
It's one of the highlight movie experiences of my life and it is my hope it will be for you. As has been said of other James Cameron movies: he doesn't reinvent the wheel, he just shows it rolling in a whole new way. There are a thousand positive things to be said about 'Avatar' but the only one that deserves mention is this: see it the way it is intended to be seen, or miss out on the cinematic opportunity of a lifetime.