One of the best movie-going experiences I've ever had

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2009)

Despite being a huge admirer of James Cameron's work (particularly Aliens and Terminator 2), I was skeptical about Avatar from the beginning. I just had this feeling that Cameron's statements about how "this movie will change the way we look at films" would lead to a significant backlash, not to mention the basic story sounded very much like that of – and forgive me for using the "popular complaint" – Dances with Wolves. That being said, I just walked out of one of the best movie-going experiences I've ever had in my life.
If there's one area in which Cameron has assuredly pushed the envelope, it would be the visuals; an argument could seriously be made that this is – visually – the most beautiful film ever crafted. The sound and effects presented here – especially when experiencing it in IMAX – really draw you into this world of Pandora, and the motion-capture character animation is far beyond that seen in Robert Zemeckis' recent films. This is, honestly, one of those instances in which the awe-inspiring visuals are essential to the experience.
Even so, there still has to be a solid story in order for Avatar to be a great movie, and thankfully, Cameron delivers. While the plot of this film does indeed feel like it's taken a couple dozen pages out of Kevin Costner's award-winning western, it all fits in perfectly with this ecology – this world – that Cameron's created. The characters and the performances of them, too, are terrific. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana carry this film beautifully as Jake Sully and Neytiri, and the relationship between them, surprisingly, ended up being very touching. There are a couple of scenes in particular, actually, that had me tearing up a bit. As for the other performances, Stephen Lang – while not exactly given the best lines at points – is chilling as Colonel Miles Quaritch, and Sigourney Weaver is endearing as Dr. Grace Augustine.
Avatar is one hell of a movie-going experience, with – at the risk of sounding cliché – breathtaking visuals that compliment the engaging (if familiar) story rather than overshadow it, some extremely likable and believable characters, and an intense, forty-minute-long climax that would be a crime to go into detail about here. Avatar is a prime example of why we all go to films in the first place.