An astonishing visual achievement with classic storytelling

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2010)

I had heard a lot about "Avatar" before seeing it, and the general complaint from most was the movie's lack of originality. Having seen the movie, I would agree that the premise is nowhere near unique, but to me originality shouldn't be the basis for judging the quality of a film. More than anything a truly great movie should be striking, and Avatar is precisely that. James Cameron used his budget ($237m) to create one of the most engrossing environments to ever grace the screen, and pushed the 3D technology (which I don't even like) to the limit. The result is pure spectacle; behind me in the movie theater there was a family with three children and throughout the 2 1/2 hours there were constant exclamations of "Wow!" and "Oohh!" at every new vista. I would have been slightly annoyed had I not realized I wanted to say the same things, and for a movie to revert a hardened critic like me to a world of pure escapist wonder, I have to give the film credit.