Good popcorn movie, but that's about it...

Rating: 5/10 (12 January 2010)

So, with a bunch of friends I finally got to see the 3D version of the much acclaimed Avatar, James Cameron's latest cinematic "masterpiece". Well, a "masterpiece" according to many reviewers, many of them found here on IMDb.
First, lets get over the obvious. The digital effect of this movie are outstanding. Best I ever seen. James Cameron has really managed to create a beautiful, vivid, detailed and believable world. During the movie I was awed by the visuals, the sound and all the effects. The cast also does an good job for the most part. No complaints there.
However, what the movie really lacks is a good plot and well-written script. After watching less than half the movie I had more or less already figured out how it was going to end. The script offers no surprises, no deviations, no moral conundrums or interesting ideas. You've seen this movie before. Really. Probably dozens of times. Or you've read the literature from which Avatar shamelessly steals the plot from. I felt like watching "Dances with Wolves", "Pocahontas", "Jurassic Park" and "Aliens" all rolled into one. I could summarize the plot as follow: "The evil white men travels to a distant planet to steal valuable minerals from the native tribes. The tall blue natives are naturally all honorable, wise and live in perfect harmony with nature (don't they always?). One crippled marine is asked to infiltrate the natives through a proxy avatar. However, after falling in love with one the natives he sees the errors of his ways and joins the them to fight back the evil, greedy white men.". And that's it. Basically, it's "Dances with Wolves" but with Smurfs rather than Indians. Yes, you've seen all this before. Nothing new here.
Don't get me wrong. Avatar is a an excellent popcorn movie. During it's 2,5 hours length you'll be throughly entertained and awed by the CGI and all the action. But Avatar leaves no lasting impression once it's over. It's easily forgettable. It's a movie you'll most likely only want to watch once and never again. It's doesn't deserve to be among the top 250 movies and it sure as heck doesn't deserve an average rating of 8,7.