The movie is more than pretty

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2010)

I have read and heard a number of reviewers talk about how the movie is pretty, but has no story. They point out other movies that tell the same story, so what is the big deal? The big deal is how the story is told.
Walking out of Avatar, I had the same feeling I did 33 years ago when I walked out of the theater after seeing Star Wars for the first time. Someone has finally figured out how to use current technology effectively in a movie. Cameron is able to use CGI and digital 3D technology to more effectively transport the audience into a movie than I have ever experienced. While it is true I have seen and read this story elsewhere, I have never experienced it so strongly as I did with Avatar.
As to the story being 'old', as Aristotle said more than 2000 years ago there are only 7 story plot lines. How many 'new' stories are we likely to see now? And people who object that everyone already 'knows' that the actions taken by humans in the story are bad and we don't need to be reminded of it, I would suggest they ask their friends if they really did understand the extent of what humans have done to culturally 'inferior' people when encountering them before they saw Avatar. That is certainly an old story that we seem to forget often.