Pretty but Lacking

Rating: 7/10 (10 May 2019)

It took me 11 years to see Avatar. After finally seeing it, I must say... It was decent. Which, in and of itself, was a bummer. I was expecting an epic and emotionally impactful adventure in a similar fashion to Terminator 2 or Alita Battle Angel. While I didn't hate it, it just lacked that James Cameron magic. The story was decent and the politics weren't nearly as shoehorned as I expected, but it jusn't didn't deliver.
Now, I have to admit that the visuals in this movie are phenomenal. This movie is over a decade old, but the effects still hold up. Quite a few scenes actually look BETTER than reality. I was astounded by the cgi, especially in the final battle scenes.
Sadly, that is the only thing that amazed me in this film. The protagonists were fairly unremarkable, and the villains were pathetically generic and stupid. There is just no way to sympathize with a guy that is bad because he's... bad. The character development happens sometime during a training montage, and as a result, no lasting connection is made between the viewer and the main characters.
Summary: A beautiful mask that hides a dissapointingly average face.