Eco-religious fantasy made with state of the art technology

Rating: 9/10 (5 February 2010)

After finally breaking down and shelling out $13.75 to see the 3D Imax version of the Avatar, I don't know how anybody could walk out and not be impressed by the technical achievement and film making genius of James Cameron.
Discounting the underlying morality tale and the typical social-political sermonizing, I was thoroughly entertained by the story telling and the amazing technical effects that allowed one to suspend disbelief in the obviously implausible fantasy eco-world known as Pandora.
But as to the underlying message of this fantasy tale, I would have loved to rewrite the ending of the movie to give it a shred of reality. Instead of the main character waking up in his now permanent avatar for the inevitable Avatar 2 sequel, I was hoping that that Sully would wake up at the very end back on present day earth and mutter to himself as he groggily realizes it was all a fantastical dream. No Pandora, no Na'vi, no beautiful Neytiri, no white savior like heroics, no transformation & healing from his paraplegia, and no happily ever after in a non-existent eco-green jungle utopia. As the crystalline dream fades away, he simply drags his body out of bed to live out another day of mundane struggles and heads out to McDonalds where he enjoys a Happy Meal and the opportunity to collect the limited edition Avatar LED toy figures.
In terms of reality and being a rationalist, the best description I've seen regarding Avatar is that it's a anti-Darwinist version of a wet dream but perhaps the movie will spur a few idealistic youth into the field of Biology and environmental Sciences. Unfortunately, with the emphasis on spiritualism and violent action, it's more of an advertisement for neo-paganism and the supporting the unfortunate notion of fighting just wars over patches of land.
As for fantasy though and in the belief that nearly every movie should be taken with a grain of reality salt, I give Avatar a big thumbs up in the fables department and it's well worth a 3D Imax viewing.