Gorgeous to see but...

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2009)

My thumbnail review: Gorgeous to see in 3D even with the funky glasses, and an engaging narrative as long as you know how to hit the "off" switch on your critical thinking. I'm okay with the "green" theme, and the scenario which shows corporations in control of planetary exploitation and politics. It's seemingly indigenous-friendly, but in a Disney Pocahantas way.
The indigenous people have no technology or deep cognitive abilities; they have songs and "legends" that have been handed down to them but are not shown in any act of invention, strategy, or creation -- and they are SAVED from without by a white Earthman invader (not even settler) who manages a complete transformation to native (or Kanaka Maoli, as we would say here) in a few weeks.
But it is openly a fantasy, and the fascination and appreciation of the flick may be in what it reveals about the zeitgeist of our era: The love and fascination with imperial military domination and its sexy, expensive weaponry, along with a contradictory desire to return to an imagined pastoral/feudalistic existence where one doesn't have to think, just follow the rules that have been handed down.
So why did I give it any stars at all? I actually know how to hit that off switch in my brain. Ooo, pretty colors and swirly flying flowers so pretty! Stuff blowing up all over the place, and that Na'vi babe very attractive when scantily clad which is all the time -- planet has excellent climate control!
Look, you're going to have to see it anyway, right? Just remember to hit the "on" switch on your brain when you walk out of the place.