Big Visuals, Small Story

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2010)

First the good news. Avatar as a visual experience is everything it's cracked up to be and more, and the 3D is, at last, finally done right. Rather than the typically annoying habit of throwing things at you, Cameron's use of 3D really immerses you in the alien world.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead, sort of.
The bad news is that there isn't much to it beyond the admittedly breathtaking visual experience. The story, and here's your spoiler, is this: Soldier goes to alien planet, goes native, and fights to save the indigenous population from the evil, greedy, corporate and military bad guys who are raping the planet in search of - get this - "unobtanium." I said it was a spoiler - "sort of" - because you're going to figure out the plot, and quite probably the conclusion, within the first few minutes of the movie.
That said, I thought it was well worth the time and money to see in the theatre. You've seen the story before, but never quite like this.