Spectacular even though it is flawed

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2011)

Having heard the hype about how this was the greatest film ever made followed by the counter hype saying it was over-rated derivative rubbish I wasn't sure that I wanted to see it but when an opportunity arose to watch it on DVD I decided it was time to watch it for myself and make my own mind up. Having seen it I can say that I don't think that it was the greatest film ever made and I certainly thought the main story was fairly derivative, it certainly wasn't rubbish though. Even though the story was fairly predictable I found it enjoyable and thought the characters were fairly interesting although the chief bad guy was hammy in such an over the top way he was funny. The real star of the film though was the planet Pandora; the CGI was done so well that it was possible to suspend disbelief and forget that this was a computer generated world.
The message of the film is fairly heavy handed; it is clear from early on that the humans on Pandora are the bad guys who are willing to destroy a pristine world and its native population to acquire a valuable mineral. There were a few surprises to be had though; the humans did far more damage to the natives' world than I'd expected and more than one character I'd expected to survive died. If you are one of the few people who still haven't seen this I'd recommend giving it a go to see what all the fuss was about; it might not be perfect but it is spectacular.