Pretty-decent fantasy-action

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2009)

It didn't feel like the grandest experience to me. Nevertheless an engaging fantasy, interesting science fiction, with a lot of great action. And visuals. "You should've seen your faces."
I wish there was more. I remember Odyssey 2001 and think of some scenes like the simple montage from the thrown prehistoric bone to the orbital nuclear device. Or the room scene at the end of Dave's life and the coming of star child to Earth. Or the tears in rain in Blade Runner. Great, transcendental scenes with indefinite meaning, low-index food for my thoughts. Nothing as such in Avatar.
Story is solid, archetypic. Similar to Herbert's Dune. Distant planet, exotic minerals, young outsider, strong heart, loses himself in the woods, makes contact with natives, falls for chief's daughter, learns their ways, turns against ruling system. Would anybody say the story of Dune is lacking something, that it is not solid? I don't understand some bitching about this. Avatar has a good story. Details matter and how the story is told.
While the love story is very similar to Titanic it ends differently, and to me Titanic ended more memorably which is interesting since it ended tragically.