I Must Be Part Of The 20% Who Complain About Everything

Rating: 5/10 (10 January 2010)

Frankly, I was underwhelmed. The plot is derivative: "Ferngully" out of "The Matrix" by the Pilot episode of "Star Trek"; Cameron is so awed by the wonderful canvas he's painting (and it Is visually stunning) that he forgets about developing such things as a story. The romance is predictable - so predictable, in fact that he neglects any foreplay. We all know what's coming, anyway, so why bother? The bad guy is Saturday Matinée Evil, our hero's introduction to the clan is Way too easy (he's accepted with only a token argument; the rest of it is about his "Manhood Training"), and the Climax is Exactly what you'd expect from a formula that says Good must fight Evil by being Just as Bad***, in addition to being made of Rubber and Luckier.
On the Plus side, the music by Horner is nice, though reminiscent of "Titanic" in spots, and the Palette IS absolutely Awesome. It's Almost worth the price of admission as an Art Exhibit. I gave it almost every star I did because of the scenery. Without it I would have been hard pressed to come up with one.
Which is why, if you're going to see it, you really should spend the extra to see it in 3D.
All the way through I kept hoping that Cameron would at least produce an ending worthy of the great art work. Perhaps the spiritual energy of the planet would mass itself and produce an energy field that made the weapons of the baddies useless. It would have shown that Good really Is stronger than Evil. After all, I kept saying to myself, he Did hang the idea that the entire planet is one organism on the wall (Its an old theatrical maxim: if you hang it on the wall in the 1st act, you better be prepared to use it in the 3rd). He Should do Something with it.
I should have known better. Nobody would go to see it. Absolutely No Box Office appeal in non-violence. The teen age males among us (chronologically or emotionally) got their money's worth. it's got some "Transformers" in it, too.