Pandora is a box that should be opened

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2009)

This is one of those movies where you leave wishing the world presented to you was real.
Avatar starts out slowly with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) approached about having his own avatar on the world of Pandora. The mission of the humans is to get the native Na'vi to move elsewhere so that the humans can mine a precious ore that is most concentrated where the Na'vi live. Before you know it, you're thrown into the world of Pandora and the life of Jake Sully, as the lines between his avatar on Pandora and his human life blur.
Visually, there is not a better movie in cinematic history. For this reason alone, I suggest anyone who plans to see the movie see it in the theaters as opposed to waiting for a DVD release. The impact will not be the same in your own home. The visuals alone make the price (11.25 for a 3D movie where I am) well worth it.
You are immersed into a world that at first seems foreign to you, then grows on you, then starts to feel like home. The ability of James Cameron to make the viewer go through everything the characters are going through is wonderful. This is definitely aided by the visuals, and how everything seems so real.
The story of the movie is something you've seen before. I won't spoil it for you, but don't expect an unpredictable plot that will blow your mind away. That's just not how this movie is built. Some will complain about character development, but if you can easily immerse yourself in another world, that will not be a problem for you.
The acting in the movie is superb, with a few minor complaints on my part. Zoe Saldana is superb as Neytiri. You feel her emotion, her pain, you BELIEVE that she is a Na'vi. Sigourney Weaver is great as Dr. Grace Augustine, and plays her job well as she is strong when she needs to be and takes a back seat when she needs to as well. All the supporting actors and actresses did great as well. My main problem, as you may have guessed by my omission, lie with Sam Worthington as Jake Sully. Despite being cast as an ex-marine, he comes off as too much of a meat head for me. The beginning he plays well, but I would have preferred an actor who could have transformed throughout the movie more than Worthington did with his character, yet still have held his ex-marine vibe. An actor that came to mind was Jake Gyllenhaal, who can play the fighter (Jarhead) but still can give an emotional performance and connect with a character (Donnie Darko/Brokeback Mountain).
In spite of the few flaws, nothing can be taken away from the big picture of this movie. You are placed in another world, and you don't want to leave after the viewing is finished. That's what makes this movie great.