Amazing. Simply amazing. We should put more faith in Mr Cameron. Afterall, he did give us Aliens, Terminator, and The Abyss. The man is a sci-fi visionary.

I must admit I went into Avatar with low expectations but I was excited, so excited that I showed up 50 min early to an empty theatre. I also bought popcorn, something I don't usually do if I'm taking a movie seriously but I stopped eating about 10 min into the film.

The story itself was basic, a different take on the Pocahontas legend, or as my brother puts it 'Dances with Smurfs' - essentially 'white man goes native'. A message about the environment was also nicely packaged within as well as the downfall of the human race - greed and power.

But what impressed me wasn't the story or the message. It was the amazing visuals. Damn, James Cameron has vision. The detail, the vivid colors, the landscape, the creatures...it made me feel that they had actually gone to Pandora to shoot the film.

And the 3D effects weren't overused, rather they 'enhanced' the experience. Objects weren't obtrusively sticking out of the screen into your face. Instead 3D was used to bring depth to the space, subtly - looking through glass doors felt real, the inward depth of a room, futuristic 3D computer monitors hanging in mid air. Impressive.

I was also amazed at how much emotion came across through the CGI characters. That's no mean feat. I actually cried during one scene, although I won't say which as it's a bit of a spoiler (and it's kind of embarassing).

Anyway, overall I think Cameron's done it again. And he's been smart to go into the detail of naming all the plants, creatures, weapons, explaining the ecosystem, deities/religion, cultural rituals, language etc. Essentially he's building the franchise. And one thing I will say he's got over George Lucas...is a much better use of dialogue.

Not sure how I feel about a sequel. Right now I like it as a standalone. A sequel feels like it may cheapen it. But we will see. Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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