A paraplegic Marine named Jake Sully decides to honor his brother by taking his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of a greedy corporate figurehead's intentions of driving off the native humanoid race, called Na'vi, in order to mine for the precious and very expensive material scattered throughout their rich forestland. Jake attempts to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity and gather information for the corporate and military unit. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful Neytiri, the restless and ruthless military colonel moves forward with his malignant extermination tactics, compelling Jake to stand with the natives in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.
After works such as The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic, Cameron comes back with another visually stunning masterpiece. Fans of his prior movies will not be disappointed. Having not seen it, this movie is open for all kinds of typical skepticism for an action fantasy film -- a movie with no plot that focuses only on the action and special effects, and uses the 3-D element simply to use it. Cameron, however, essentially dodges all of these negatives. Yes the movie has plenty of action, but it also captures the emotions of both the humans and the Na'vi, grasps the continuous beauty of the planet's environment, shows the greed and warfare of the human soldiers, and constantly but subtly brings in small, graceful details, such as the glowing, floating “seeds of Eywa”. As for the 3-D incorporation, while it has been a distraction for movies in the past (such as in 2007 with “Beowulf”, directed by Robert Zemeckis), Cameron really did deliver the next generation of 3-D. He avoids the expected blurring or dimming that usually comes when the glasses are put on, and carefully uses the 3-D element to capture the beauty and artistry of the movie rather than just having it for kicks.
Overall, while original, a fairly simple easy-to-follow storyline, but a visually surprising and stunning film throughout. Recommended in 3-D, and a good flick to see with family and/or friends.
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