Dances with Wolves inside Roger Dean paintings

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2009)

Avatar is a technologically advanced film employing huge computing power and human achievement to assert that humans don't do anything but destroy without creating and that the natural world is more powerful than the man-made one. A military man enters a world of primitives to find that they're morally superior to his world because of their holistic connection to the planet. Naturally the invading humans (all white males) ignore his dire warnings and attack anyway. It's essentially Dances With Wolves, Ferngully & Starship Troopers on a huge budget.
It also prominently features scenery which is awfully similar to specific paintings by English surrealist Roger Dean, most notable "Floating Islands," "Arches" and various other pieces.
Not a bad film, but not a great one either. The story of repugnant human behavior has been recycled over and over since the 1960s, and amping up the effects budget doesn't do much to improve it. However, the effects alone are worth the ticket price so I'll see it a couple more times.