If nothing else, visually spell binding.

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2010)

Just finished watching the 3-d version of this as I wouldn't recommend experiencing Avatar any other way. I'm sure there has been much mentioned in previous reviews about Avatar in its strengths and weaknesses but here is what I got out of it.
As far as appearances go, this movie is great to look at, everything seems immaculate in its detail. Some of the creatures seem very real in some of the close up shots. The character played by Sam Worthington is the protagonist I can root for as the wheel chair bound hero turned Nav'i. The monsters were biologically creative with their telepathically physical qualities. It felt like an adventure ride from start to finish. I especially liked the beginning in the space ship where the troops were floating in space. The story, while rumored to be plagiarizing, seems forgivable, though months behind District 9, and Surrogates (a movie I didn't like too much). There were some implementations.
Aside from the seemingly clichéd story, I had trouble with some of the vast amount of expositions that made the story way too predictable. The writing needed to be tweaked in order to sway from the dangerously predictable clichés in Avatar. Mentioned was a dragon head that only 5 members of the Nav'i tribe was able to conquer and tame throughout history, I found myself thinking: lemme guess, Worthington's character will probably take the saddle of this "dragon" later on in the film, and you know what? I was right. Then there was that pointless group-gathering montage, as if the Nav'i from the rest of the planet didn't know that their sacred tree was fallen. I felt that part should have been eliminated too. Then there was that general, while good at his part, seemed like he was all over the place as his character is spread too thin. The general stands watch in the middle of the night, holds meetings, makes strange brainwashed Marine dialog and fights in mech suits. He would have been a better right hand man, not necessarily a colonial or presidential leader. He was over utilized as a universal bad guy which got annoying.
If you think these are major gripes, they are not really. This movie is still "all sorts of awesome" and I will be sure to own the DVD when it comes out. I still recommend it, outstanding visuals will make the story forgivable.