Stunning visuals in 3D but stumbles with script

Rating: 7/10 (27 March 2012)

I'll happily agree that 'Avatar' is a stunning film on the big screen - it's colorful, features beautiful environments, varied shots, awesome camera-work, brought back 3D and the soundtrack blends in great.
But there are a few caveats to the film: 1) The characters. With exception of Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington's roles, the characters feel too stereotypical and quite unrealistic at times. The "villain" probably to the greatest extent, there is little to no depth to him at all. The Na'vi characters are no better, they feel interchangeable and could have been copy-pasted straight out of Lion King.
2) The plot. Way too simplistic and features too good to be true solutions as well as very poor decisions by the characters. It's hardly original either, 'Pocahontas' springs to mind on more than one occasion. Some twists to the story feel very forced and are not explained enough to make sense (i.e. Weaver's character's death).
3) The overall 'kids movie' feel. We have seen this one before.
I still consider the movie worthy of a 7 as it is sort of a milestone all in all, but unless you're in your late preteens to early teens you will probably do well to watch Avatar once and final.