Triumphant

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2010)

Jim Cameron's AVATAR truly impressed and inspired me. It certainly is a visual spectacle, and he and his team create a deeply textured and detailed world. I was equally enthralled by the storytelling. It's a profound and meaningful story exploring the themes and ideas of imperialism, racism, environmentalism, capitalism, and religion. He masterfully balances the disparate and delicate subject matter with an adroit eye and confident hand, once again creating a seamless and harmonious relationship between state-of-the-art technological film-making and finger-on-the-pulse fundamental storytelling. Cameron first and foremost (and smartly) treats the film as a piece of entertainment, but he operates from a much deeper context in the way he peels back the layers of meaning and symbolism within the story. At times, the execution and performances are a bit heavy-handed, but that's totally forgivable because of how richly and poignantly the story is told and how the deeper relationships are exposed with such nuance and tenderness. AVATAR is tracking to be the second biggest box office hit in history, behind his very own other cinematic triumph TITANIC. This outstanding accomplishment and distinction is very well-earned and deserved. I'm very appreciative of Jim Cameron and his passion for making fantastic movies that explore important themes in a fun and significant way. Can't wait to see what he does next. He might as well go for the hat-trick.