Fantastic special effects, but...

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 2010)

Finally, as one of the seemingly few remaining human beings not to have seen Avatar yet, I had an invite to join 3 fellow film fans (two of whom had already seen the film) to visit our nearest multiplex showing the film in 3D, an invite not to be turned down.
So finally having experienced the most financially successful film of all time what was my opinion. Well, there is no denying that the special effects are quite amazing - this is a film that has to been seen in 3D, I just could not imagine it 'flat - yet as for the story line I could not help but think I had seen it all before.
During the journey home I mulled the story over in my mind and pieced it together thus - you take a little '2001 A Space Odyssey', throw in a dash of 'First Blood - Rambo', add a dollop of 'Last of the Mohecians', mix just about 'boy meets girl, boy loses girls, boy and girl get together in the end', and finally stir with a splash of almost all the recent eco-porn movies and thus you have 'Avatar'. Don't get me wrong, this does not mean the film doesn't have merit - it moves at a nice pace, the action sequences are superb, the characters display some real depth and as a whole it is very watchable, but just do not expect anything really original or totally mindblowing.
If you have not experienced this film yet do so, you will enjoy it even if only on a basic level, but I do urge you to check out the 3D version where the effects come to life, and avoid the standard version.