A spectacular show of "cinematic fireworks"

Rating: 7/10 (17 June 2018)

"Avatar" is billed as an action, adventure and fantasy film. While it is all of these, it's basic plot and makeup is all science fiction. There's no doubt about the fantastic technical and production qualities of this film. It's a joy just to watch the colorful scenes, sets and creatures of Pandora. CGI clearly has gone to the next level in creating backdrops, sets and scenes for use with live action filming. This is very good fantasy stuff.
With so many reviews already, I won't rehash what others have said. But, I didn't see reference in the comments I scanned to a couple of things worth noting. So, this is to add them to the discussion of this film. A number of others are critical of the film for its lack of originality. It's true that the same themes of the genre of sci-fi and space exploration have been used a great deal before.
The earth has depleted its resources and must find new ones somewhere else. The indigenous creatures of Pandora have their own deity. So, this film has considerable mythology. The new type of bionic man comes into this one with a scientific melding of human and something else. The humans are aliens to this planet or moon, and there is the usual division of some who care about the natives and others who couldn't care less about them.
Much less often, fantasy and sci-fi films will use a writing trait found in classical literature. That is symbolic names and other words. Two leap out in this film. The first is the moon's name, Pandora. From Greek mythology, Pandora's box (or jar) today refers to a plethora of things that can cause havoc or problems. That fits this movie all too well. The second obvious symbolic word is the name for the rare mineral that earth needs, "unobtanium." So, it can't be obtained on earth or elsewhere.
What is a somewhat unique about "Avatar" is that it combines all of the above aspects of sci-fi and more. But with so much action and all of the visual spectacles, it makes a plot that is very difficult to follow. When I came out of the theater after seeing this film the first time, I thought about the splendid visual show it was, but also wondered if there was any real point in the plot. It seemed to be just a complex story made to pull together many scenes of action, visual treats, and wild fantasy and sci-fi things.
Watching it again, the visual spectacle is still there, and the plot fades. So, this isn't a film that would be recognized for the original and main crafts of theater - acting and directing. A good analogy might be with what Americans enjoy every year in celebrating the Fourth of July. Whoever tires of watching spectacular fireworks displays? We don't think about the theme, or the reason or the history at that moment. And, year after year we turn out to watch the fireworks again.
"Avatar" isn't so much a movie or film with a great story and actors performing in it. It's just a spectacular fireworks display on the silver screen.