Are You Red, White & Blue In The Face?

Rating: 5/10 (22 January 2017)

Set in the year 2151 - This visually spectacular (yet emotionally haywire) tale of a ruthless rape attempt (by humans) of the planet Pandora for its valuable resources and the near-annihilation of the Na'vi peoples (an indigenous humanoid species of said planet) borrowed heavily (I think) from the well-known story of Tarzan.
Of course, Avatar's story was set on a much greater scale than that of a mere Tarzan-like "jungle" tale - But, all the same, that's how it appeared to me.
Avatar's story also brought to mind the reality of Christopher Columbus's "discovering" of America in 1492 and his search for valuable resources and the devastating effect that that fateful incident had on all of the native peoples of both the American continents.
With a film of this one's striking visual magnitude, it's so easy for the viewer to be completely swept away by the sheer beauty and wonder of it all and to just allow the story to take a back seat for itself.
And that is exactly what happened here with Avatar. It, unfortunately, relied far too heavily on the splendour of its visuals to carry it through and that left us with a story that already had the wind clearly knocked out of its sails by the half-way point.
*Note* - Directed by James Cameron - Avatar's budget was $237 million.