The Avatar Season is Upon Us. Alas.

THX1138

I saw it at the IMAX yesterday and it's AMAZING !! - Believe the hype, this movie delivers.

Fergus Pickering

Looks good, sounds crap, is that the size of it? Hardly for grown-ups then? Tell me that I'm wrong, good Numberplate. Tell me about the PLOT. Also tell me if it has any good jokes. The first two Star Wars movies had jokes. After that they didn't and they were rubbish. So jokes are the thing. Tell me about the jokes.

Mark

I'm going purely for the spectacle. I'm hoping there's some way I can disconnect my brain from the plot...

Jeremy

Horrible, fat, overblown pap - in brief, a James Cameron film...

Jeremy

Peter Suderman:

"....the nearly three-hour onslaught of simplistic moralizing leaves no room for interesting twists or ambiguity in the story or characters: corporations are bad, scientists are good, natives are pure, harmony with nature is the ultimate ideal — the only suspense comes from wondering what movie Cameron will rip off next..."

This tendancy, that you note, to seperate individuals and groups into a simplistic good/bad dichotomy is what really offends about mainstream Hollywood cinema. There is simply no room for complexity, subtlety or nuance. The impression one gains from these films is of an entire culture which has been arrested at the infantile stage of development.

Peter Crawford

Fergus P - If you are after jokes (and who isn't) then don't go. There are no jokes. Unless you count the film as one big one. Spectacular visuals are not enough to sustain interest in limp, cliched, platitudinous, drivel for three long hours.

Tim InSingapore

I've just seen it. Sure the plot is cliche ridden, but the spectacle is ... spectacular, and the 3D effects exceeded my expectations by a big margin. For what it is, it's extremely well done and will be seen as a technical landmark. Some of the comments above are the purest snobbery - there are many drearier and less innovative films that get the thumbs up from the 'informed film-goer'. It's definitely worth seeing, rather contrary to my expectations. I hated Titanic, for example ...

Fergus Pickering

Thank you, Peter Crawford. I suspected as much. I mean green blokes ten feet high - and not one of them Arnie.

Peter Crawford

Fergus - no probs. And your mention of Arnie reminds me that in the Cameron directed Terminator movies there is a slight hint of dark humour that peps them up no end.

Tim - I am not a snob. And the visuals are stunning. But stunning visuals on their own are simply not enough for me.

Each to his own but I thought it was lame.

Rhoda Klapp

Would commenters please make sure they distinguish which Cameron they are discussing, Dave or James. One has a wierd fantasy of a wonderful green planet where idealistic creatures live in harmony, the other...well, you can see how this is going.

AHM in NY

This film was visually amazing. There were, in fact, a few jokes. But overall, I have to say that this film has something for everybody. The theme is beautiful, the characters I found were developed to evoke feeling in the viewer and the story was well told. I have to politely disagree with all the reviews above, as I found this movie to be spectacular. It is a must-see, even if you're not interested in Sci-fi or action films. Unless you're a stuck up, nick-picker who has nothing better to do than to b**tch about an obvious masterpiece, I think you will like it, if not love it.

Fergus Pickering

Sorry, AHM, I will bitch about an obvious glugger as long as I like. And will I go and see it? I will not. However, each to his own. One of my favourite kidie movies fifteen years ago was a Rik Mayall one about snot which got dreadful reviews. However my daughters and I, we just fell about. It seems to me that this director peaked with his real masterpiece 'Terminator' and it's been a long road downhill ever since. I think the troubole is that he's a deeply stupid man and that always trips you up in the end.

Beefeater

Cameron captures the imagination, then tortures and kills it.