The Avatar Delusion

Rating: 4/10 (12 January 2010)

I would like to start this review by saying that I'm not trying to be way out or off the wall, I wouldn't dislike a film for the sake of it and I watched this film with the best of intentions. After looking forward to this film for well in excess of a year I finally got my chance to watch it on Premiere night in the full glory of 3D. But, sadly I was extremely disappointed. Let me first state the things I liked about the movie. The graphics were awe-inspiring leaving me with my mouth gaping at the gorgeous environment of Pandora. Top performances from the leading cast and an inspiring assumption of future human technology from the ships to the Mechs.I would also like to say I love the way this film is encouraging the development of 3D cinema. Now the bad. Afetr seeing all of Cameron's previous films and without exception loving every single one, this film failed to invoke any emotion whatsoever. From the non-creative creatures that were basically earth-based animals merged together for example the love child of a hammerhead shark and a rhino to the orangutans with a couple of extra limbs and least not forget the over-sized, blue tribesman of the Amazon. The film bumbled along for what seemed like a lifetime staggering from one uninteresting scene to another like the pathetic scene in which Jake was introduced to his weird bird-dragon to the predictable conclusion of him being good enough to control the largest of the bird-dragons solely relying on it's breath-taking CGI. Not to mention that Cameron seems to have lifted the entire storyline from the 1992 kids film FernGully. Also, I felt like I was being hit over the head continuously with the message that humans are a destructive race, I'm not blind I can see the what's happening to the world around me, I just don't want it forced down my throat when I'm trying to watch a film. If this film had not been the first 3D film I'd ever seen or I was watching it at home, I can honestly say I wouldn't have seen the end. In closing, I would like to note my concern for the mentality of the IMDb user that instantly awards this film 10/10 based on nothing but the opinions of their friends and media hype. I personally have met 2 people who have never seen it and yet have given it 10/10 and thereby soiling the good name of IMDb. I would not say this is the worst film I have ever seen by any means but the hype surrounding it is unjustified. If this film had been made by an unknown director then I have no doubt that it would be in the bargain DVD bin at your nearest Blockbuster.