Visuals are exceptional but past that I was bored.

Rating: 5/10 (14 February 2010)

The message behind Avatar is a noble one, but that doesn't go far enough to cover up the unimaginative storyline and dialogue. Avatar is heavy on clichés that we've seen plenty of times before: Hero goes to a strange land and isn't accepted by the natives. Fast forward 45 minutes and he's finally been accepted into their inner circle. Inevitably he will find someone there that he falls in love with at first sight. Their love will be endangered by the enemy that seeks to harm the natives in some way or other. And so on and so on. You can pretty much predict everything that's going to happen within the first 20 minutes, which is remarkable considering the running time is well past 2 and half hours.
I give it a 5/10 based solely on it's visual merits and recognition for the amount of effort it takes to put something on this large of a scale together. That in itself is admirable. I just wish that there was actually some substance to back the film up.