Hyped up, but still pretty

Rating: 7/10 (5 June 2010)

I did not enjoy this as much as I did a while ago in the theaters. I rewatched it recently, and I realized that most of my enjoyment the first time was the hype it was receiving as one of the most grossing films of the year and decade, not to mention it's a 17 year project. If you think about it in the Duke Nukem Forever sense, that its been built up all this time so we should expect more and be disappointed, then you'll most likely be disappointed. It's the standard Dances with Wolves/Pocahontas setup with blue cats in the mix. If you have zero expectations, then you'll enjoy it more. Me, I was expecting better for sure, but it gets buy, sorta.
The protagonist is John Smith...no, Jake Sully, my bad. Either way, he's going to try and help the blue cats on their planet called Pandora. He forms his own Avatar of a blue cat and becomes a member of their tribe, learning their ways and wits, while also getting it on with Pocahontas, (clears throat) Neytiri.
The characters are all clichés, the military bad guy who wants harvest as much as possible from nature, but oh no we the people say you have no right to deprive them of their home. The story is so formulaic. It has little surprises here and there, but I predicted the whole thing.
The film is still enjoying to watch regardless, for a different reason. To me, the enjoyment doesn't come from the writing, characters, or story, cause that'll get you nowhere. The enjoyment comes from the technicals of the film. The cinematography, visuals, scenery, and action are all FANTASTIC!! I was blown away by how good this movie looks. The colors, the clearness, everything about it is just stunning, especially in blu ray. I must sound like a Michael Bay fan saying the visuals are better than the story, but honestly, that's all I was enjoying about it.
If you're expecting a phenomenon to change filmmaking forever, you won't find it here, it's a sloppy story with sloppy writing and clichéd characters. But man oh man it looks stunning, probably one of the best looking movies I've ever seen. It's entertaining for the most part, so if that's enough for you, then I recommend it.