Spectacular SFX and animation, but a mediocre story

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2009)

Avatar was hailed for ground-breaking special effects. And on that, the new James Cameron title fully delivers. Never has CGI looked more lifelike, was the actor/CGI blend so seamless. It's certain that Avatar will do for CGI the same what Terminator 2 did: provide a benchmark for future films and their SFX. As with Terminator 2, this benchmark will be surpassed sooner or later, leaving Avatar as a historical landmark.
However, once other films will copy or improve the techniques used in Cameron's latest, the lack of a good story will condemn Avatar to a second-rate movie in a few years. This one will not age well.
The story told in Avatar has been told before, many times. This is not a bad point by itself. Avatar is, first and foremost, a big budget action film, so templates are expected and also quite useful to allow the viewer to get immersed into the movie more quickly.
But Cameron fails to give us more than mere cut-out templates. The movie fails to give us a coherent and logical plot, relying too much on plot devices and gimmicks to deliver its message. And it also doesn't help that the original story that has been told plenty of times isn't that good to begin with. That's all the more disappointing considering that Cameron has tight control of the films he creates. So nobody blame the studio execs on this one.
Still, go see it, see it in 3D if possible. It's one pretty-looking film. It's got too little plot to cover the full running time, though.