Gorgeous cinematography -- story a little arch

Rating: Null/10 (15 March 2010)

James Cameron's AVATAR breaks new ground in cinematic history. The visuals in this movie are technically superb. From a creative standpoint, the story is filled with innovative landscapes and imaginative technologies. Cameron shines at taking his audience away to new worlds. The main downside to this movie is that the military is presented in a very one-sided "soldier of fortune" way. Apart from the protagonist, the members of the military are characterized as having slightly less humanity than Darth Vader and his storm troopers. It's simply not credible. That is, the archness of these characterizations actually undercuts the theme and believability of the movie because the jingoist stereotype goes too far.
Regardless of the unfortunate jingoist stereotyping, this does not ruin the movie. On the whole it is still an exceptional film, especially if you concentrate on the visuals.