AVATAR
3 out of 5 stars

what is the plot? well, that’s easy to explain… take the story of pocohontas, or fern gully, OR dances with wolves, and you pretty much have your plot. we know, people. it’s been done. but, james cameron isn’t no dummy. where he lacks in plot development and creativity, he creates this beautiful world on the planet of pandora for us tobe visually mind-blown with willowy trees, glow-in-the dark flowers, florescent colors abound, and of course, these aliens called the na’vi that want to protect their world at all costs. (and…you too can “avatar” yourself with the help of a few apps out there, hehe) such a lush and beautiful world, and of course, it turns out that the humans are the baddies, who want the “unobtainium” underneath the great tree of life. ahh…human greed always gets the best of us, don’t it?



although nominated for best picture at the oscars, i didn’t think this mega-saturated special effects piece was really worth the nomination… i mean, avatar ultimately competed against indie films like the hurt locker and precious, and I’m wondering if that was even a fair fight? :/ (that just begs the question of WHAT is best picture these days?) the 3D effects are AWESOME, mind you, but what’s left when you take off the glasses? do we walk away feeling like “OMG, that was sooooo moving” or “OMG, i need to watch that again”? not for me… i really don’t like bashing such a long-term project, since i know it took james cameron YEARS to complete this, partially due to funding, but i often felt that this was made for the sake of making a film that can utilize state of the art CGI effects well… I mean, almost 80% of the movie takes place on pandora, does it not?


i know i’ve asked a lot of rhetorical questions in this review, but I guess this is the only one my readers really want to know: IS IT WORTH RENTING? my answer: only if you have a movie theater in your home with 3D capabilities. only then, should you really watch this to get the full effect… otherwise, you’re better off watching dances with wolves with kevin costner and the native americans. or even better… watch south park make fun of avatar with their dances with smurfs episode! :P