Stunning on a technical level, poor on plot and script.

Rating: 5/10 (19 December 2009)

Jake Sully arrives on the planet Pandora to take the place of his dead brother in using a creature known as an 'Avatar' to try and move the native people from their home, so humans can mine for a rock that's under it. However, as Sully spends more time with the Na'vi, he finds his loyalty tested....
James Cameron spent around 14 years getting the technology he needed to film this movie. Filming the actors using motion capture technology, then using CGI to replace the actors on screen. It was used for characters such as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and on movies such as Beowulf, however this is without doubt the best use of the technology in a movie so far. The CGI is stunning, creating an imaginative world and also some impressive alien creatures.
It's always hard to judge performances when done using motion capture, but I'd have to say on the whole the cast are pretty good, the stand-out being Stephen Lang as Col. Quaritch. Sam Worthington as Sully is also very impressive in the lead role.
Cameron, as he has shown in the past stages some very impressive action sequences in the last part of the movie, but also directs the quieter moments very well to.
However....
First of all, for all the time spent on the technology side, Cameron should have spent more time on the story and script. The plot line is very predictable, and some of the dialogue is very poor. Perhaps next movie, he should bring in a scriptwriter to help out.
The 3-D side of the movie, while impressive wasn't the immersive experience I was expecting. In fact, I don't think the movie actually benefits being in 3-D at all. I'm one of those waiting to be convinced that 3-D is the big thing everyone thinks it will be, and nothing in Avatar on that side convinces me.
As I said the CGI is very impressive indeed, but as good as it is, and as good as the action scenes are done, there is no actual tension or excitement. Unlike movies of the past, where you had stunt-men doing actual stunts, the reliance on CGI in modern movies has taken that away, resulting in no sense of dread or risk during the action parts. Avatar isn't the first movie to suffer for this, but it is becoming more and more apparent in movies these days and I wish it would stop.
Another flaw with the CGI is that, some of the emotional aspects of the movie are lost. While it is without doubt the best movie yet of it's kind, the technology still, as yet can't get the emotional side of the performances quite right. It is close, but until they can solve this flaw you won't feel for the characters and their story.
The film is also far too long. The central section of the movie goes on and on, and slows everything down. I'm understand why it's there, to show Sully falling for the Na'vi culture, and also in love, but it just feels baggy.
There is no denying that James Cameron has created a movie that looks fantastic. But I wish he'd spent as much time on the script as he had on the technology side. If he had, he might have made a movie that is the so-called 'game changer' of the movie industry that Avatar is claimed to be (though to be fair, I don't think Cameron has said this himself). Instead, he has only made a movie that looks good, but nothing more.
A pity.