Avatar on DVD in 2011

Rating: 5/10 (5 July 2011)

Having missed out on the event that was the Avatar cinema release in 3D, I finally got round to watching the 2D version on DVD. Whatever this event carried on the big screen, it is distinctly underwhelming viewed on DVD in your own living-room.
The story is Dances with Wolves and a hundred other culture clash templates. The characters are two dimensional and lack complexity. Sigourney Weaver as the scientist was the best hope for this, but she seems naively unaware of the military-industrial complex surroundings that pay the bills. While the storyline and characterizations are disappointing, Weaver's scientist clamouring for a cigarette and smoking in labs was both sickening and outlandish. Could Cameron really not finance this without pandering to the evils of Big Tobacco? Nice special effects but hardly spectacular. After that, there is not a lot to say about this film really. Ideas-wise, it is smarter than Transformers but more lightweight than Jurassic Park. Even Titanic provoked more thought. As an event, it will be discussed endlessly, but as a film, it inspires very little.