Great Theater Film, But Suffers At Home.

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2010)

When I first saw this in theaters, I thought it was one of the most pleasing visual experiences I've ever encountered. While it is amazing visually, story-wise it lacks. A lot of people are giving this movie 10/10 ratings over the simple fact that the visual work looks nice. Problem was, this movie was made for the sole intention of being 3D, and seen in 3D.
So naturally, since I enjoyed it in theaters, I thought I would purchase the DVD for enjoyment at home. I took some time tonight to watch it, and realized that I wasn't as wowed as I was when I first saw it. Perhaps it's because I don't have a $6000 3DTV, but rather I watched it on a 50 inch plasma.
Here's some of the problems with this film: First, the storyline is unoriginal. It was very well written and put together, but the base concept was about acceptance, and respecting that other people are different than you, that doesn't mean you can take what's theirs. This storyline has been done 300 other times before. Maybe it would have seemed more original if the script wasn't shelved for 9 years.
Second, too much was crammed into a film. It started slow, didn't get to the point fast enough, and much of the story from the beginning is easily forgettable. Let's face it, the battle scenes where the awesome, but that's about it. The rest of the movie is easily forgettable. I'm not one for sappy love stories, but there could have been more character development within the relationship of the two.
Third, much of the storyline was filled with plot holes. Jake "died" within 40 seconds of lacking oxygen, yet the Colonel was able to fire a whole clip of ammunition and fire a pistol at the chopper. Makes no sense.
Fourth, some of the story was poorly acted. I'm convinced that it was the story itself, and not the actors. You can easily tell that some of the lines were rather cheesy, and being that Jake really thought he was part of their world, it felt awkward when he was trying to talk like them about spirits and whatnot.
I suppose it's not a huge turn-off, but the story could have been easily compressed down into 1 hour and 40 minutes or so. To me, there was too much, the story didn't make sense at times due to plot holes, and there was virtually limited character development, and I feel like it was far too long. When you are getting sore from sitting in the same place too long, that's when a film is too long.