Avatar (2009)

Whoa! What a rollercoaster ride! Oh sure, the script seems pieced together with odds and ends from LORD OF THE RINGS to HEAVY METAL to DANCES WITH WOLVES among many others but everything (plot, characters) is subservient to the visual story and here is where director James Cameron leaves one breathless with awe. I’ve never seen 3D with so much detail, sharpness and clarity and to his credit, Cameron doesn’t use it as a gimmick. Nothing tossed at you every 5 minutes to remind you you’re watching a 3D movie. I’m no 3D fan boy but if it must be used, this is the way to use it though I fear the mediocrities that will follow in its wake. 3D is the justification for a movie like this as the movie, as cinema, is pretty dumb. The story deals with the planet Pandora and the race of people on it called the Na’vi who are an ecological, spiritually based populace. Enter the earthlings comprised of the good guys (Sigourney Weaver) who want to study the indigenous natives and the bad guys (Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi) who simply want the natural resources of the planet and the natives be damned. This is to be seen in theatres, not on home video. A truly special experience but make no mistake about it, it's no more than the cinematic equivalent of a rollercoaster ride and once is enough for me and as much as I enjoyed, I have zero desire to see it ever again. With Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, CCH Pounder and Wes Studi.