Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2010)

Along with every other late first-time viewer, I expect we had inflated expectations based on media hype and word-of-mouth. Most of the characters are so two-dimensional I expected them to disappear when they turned sideways. An exception is Sigourney Weaver's character; she got some of the best lines (at least the most of the laughs, wry or otherwise, from us), but isn't she yet tired of playing the star-crossed heroine fighting an alien force?
The problem here is the story, or lack thereof. From the get-go, every major plot twist is not just foreshadowed but pointed to with big flashing neon signs reading "WATCH FOR THIS IN A FUTURE SCENE". The dialogue is often wooden (some of the worst lines are actually quoted in IMDb's "Memorable Quotes" section for the film); I heard nothing that reminded me of really good quotes from films like Aliens. The bad aliens/good locals is played as though the audience is completely new to the concept of the history of conquering invaders and downtrodden natives; contrast this with the really funny send-up of over-the-top PC sensitivity early on in Imaginarium, when the bobby has trouble working out how to refer to Verne Troyer's character. The lack of imagination (or intentional references to Native Americans) in using human-like natives with human-like voices and emotional responses is unfortunate; more interesting aliens were developed in The Abyss.
The special effects are very good, although the small-frame 3D glasses used at our local theater really felt awkward and got in the frame of the projected image. The owl-eye polarized lenses used at other IMAX theaters were much more pleasant to use. I recall a better experience with Coraline's 3D projection, but I don't recall which style of glasses were used. The 3D visuals were nice, but they were abused by overuse–no opportunity to highlight the 3Dness of the film was left on the virtual cutting room floor. I would have been much happier with better dialogue, more story, and less special effects.
It's not a bad film, and if one is interested in 3D CGI, this should be seen in a theater with the proper equipment (preferably one with large, polarized lenses). But if you've seen The Polar Express, you've seen a better film–story, acting, dialogue–than Avatar, and with 3D effects that better support the story and are not the only reason for seeing the movie. But I can't recommend it to anyone who is not dead-set on seeing it in 3D.