Not the masterpiece many think it is, but a great ride nonetheless.

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2009)

So its finally here! Avatar was a blast, for those who accused others of being film snobs for disliking Transformers 2, y'know, because films can contain bad dialogue and special effects yet still be great; THIS is the film you were talking about!
The 3D visuals were awesome, the beautiful landscape shots, the performance capture techniques and of course, beastly CGI monsters a-plenty, the format never felt like a gimmick at all, it just fit this type of entertainment. As for the film itself, some good things to say, some bad. Dialogue was the bad thing, aspiring filmmakers take note, I never want to hear the phrases "C'mon bitch!", "Get some!" or "Yeeeeeaaaaah!" in a movie ever again. Worthington isn't the 'bland' presence some critics have said he is, but I do think he needs to step up the charisma a little if he wants to be the new Willis or Gibson. However, his character was a little implausible at times (he makes some dumb, childlike moves just after he convinced us he was a noble soldier). Also, if the film was indeed meant to be a statement on the US occupation in the Middle East like Worthington claimed it was...sad face.
Despite those complaints, the movie was an amazing ride, credit all due to Cameron and his typically excellent direction of the action set-pieces. I also really liked the tone here, lets say Aliens was Cameron doing horror, Terminator 2 his action movie and Titanic his romance/drama, this is what I'd call his Disney film. That's not an insult at all though, the combination of the classic hero v villain tale, full of love, betrayal, struggle and a score suitable for these themes took me back to the good 'ol days of when I watched movies just to be entertained.