Not Cameron's best But Good

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2010)

I strangely have not reviewed it until now. Largely due to the fact that I was awaiting the fully extended edition. It really allows you to fully immerse yourself in the world of Pandora, and the character of Sam Worthington as well. The screenplay is obviously an re-used one that people are more than familiar with, alas "Dances With Wolves" or Disney's "Pocahontas", etc, etc. For that, I cannot say it surpassed "T2" or "Aliens". This film plays on our emotions just in the way Kevin Costner and that fictional Disney romance did, just on a more elaborate scale drenched in sci-fi to disguise it. While pretty damn obvious, and so for that I can not award this film ten stars, it is pretty entertaining.
The alien world is well put together with dazzling sights. The environments are astonishingly real and the way it was masterfully shot made you feel as though you were there amidst the terrifying yet intriguing fictional world. Each bizarre animal is incredibly vivid and it is rare to find creatures in a film that are so amazing. The cast was incredible and were built up quite nicely. Zoe Saldana was great, and you know I loved Sigourney Weaver throughout. Michelle Rodriguez was pretty good herself but the performance I adored the most was Stephen Lang's. He was brutal and the best shot in the whole film had to be that epic jump out of the exploding air-battle ship. What a bad-ass!! I don't know if it's just me but I do know I'm the type of viewer who connects with antagonist so for me it was kind of sad to watch him die. The score was rather good, by the master James Horner, but I found it lacking here and there. That main theme you hear as their precious tree burns is okay, but it's not quite the saddest theme I've ever heard. From time to time, it borrows a bit from "Aliens" as well, but overall it hold together.
All in all, it's a must see, and try to see the complete extended cut which has almost 20 minutes of extra footage.