It's an adventure - and a great one

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2009)

I saw Avatar in 3D with expectations that it would be a special effects triumph with a weak plot I'd put up with for some nifty eye candy. I came out of Avatar convinced it's one of the great adventure films of all time, balancing classic elements of danger, discovery, challenge and wonder.
The Pandora sequences are the absolute kicker, but not in the sense that you sit back and say "nice effect". I walked out of the theater feeling that I wanted to go to Pandora, see it through Jake eyes, and *be* Jake in that world of wonder. And that's a key point - thats what it *means* to live through an Avatar. How did Jake's first five minutes as a Na'vi hit you? How did you feel when you read Robin Hood, the Arthur legends, Robinson Crusoe, Lord of the Rings or other classic adventures? Same feeling - but Cameron and company take you there. He doesn't tell the story, he shows the story as no one has done before.
"I do not regard advertising as an entertainment or art form, but as a medium of information. When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you found it 'creative.' I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product. When Aeschines spoke, they said, 'How well he speaks.' But when Demosthenes spoke, they said 'Let us march against Philip.'" -- David Ogilvy
I think Cameron knew exactly the experience he was aiming to give his audience and deserves credit for much more than technical mastery.