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What did I think of James Cameron's new movie avatar?
1. It's awesome. The visual elements are awesome, the world is compelling. Nothing wrong with CG in SciFi.
2. It's awesome. The storyline is classic and awesome.
3. It's awesome. Technology and the biology of Pandora are awesome and detailed enough to be believable.
4. The entire character and concept of the Colonel sucks but everything else about the characters is awesome.

This movie is so... omnipotent. The first half is very much a reflection of the avatar syndrome. It has mecha. It has a new, interesting world rendered in incredible detail that is still similar to earth - and so we connect with it.
It has floating rocks. Giant trees. Space travel. Advanced technology rendered in a realistic way - again far but not too far from where we are that it seems possible. Earth is not even depicted, only briefly referenced. It has action. Discovery. Cllicheed tough marine lines. It is not a "first contact" story. It is a super super recycled story- and I would even dare call it a classic.

Everything below this line is a complete and utter spoiler. Don't read it if you haven't seen the movie. Seriously. You'll regret it.

The story, I mean. There's a reason "Intruders come into a world looking for resources and in so doing crush a tribe of indigenous people in parallel with the classic "love against all odds" storyline culminating into a "victory to the underdog" ending in parallel with "Staying with the new world" has been done time and time again. Same as Pocahontas. Similar to Dance with the Wolves. Nearly exactly the same as Atlantis: A Lost Empire, except that that was a steampunk animation, not a sci fi.

The technology used in the movie is one of the key connecting factors; obscene development in genetics and biology, millitary weapons that look different but are similar enough that we can recognise them - a plot necessity, for if humans mastered fusion no amount of flying beasts could keep them from winning, and also because to do it star wars style with near magical technology makes it unrealistic. And the technology has actually been borrowed from other movies and stories, notably from Halo. But I disgress.

I love reading long reviews to shows I like, but I don't need to say much here. This story is a classic. You can tell right from the start how the story will end, but there are many suprising bits. The "Genocide" was so dark that I hadn't actually believed it would take place. Humans are so ugly in this story, and the immersion within Na'Vi culture is thourough enough for us to all want to stay and belong there. In fact most people don't care that the humans are ultra evil. We pretty much are anyway. The one concept I didn't like was that the villain was so inhumane that he lost any semblance of realism, which was intended and probably the entire reason why no one felt sorry for him, everyone wanted him to die, but still a deplorable conclusion. I would have preferred that Cameron explore the greed of humanity as the main villain, but that may have been impossible. Not with that budget, which was so massive that no one wouild want to take any risks. Stick to a storyline that works, pull the viewer into the world, make them feel the same emotions as the protagonists. Automatic hit.

This movie is grade A beef. I don't care what everyone says. Classics are remembered because they are classics. This is the best remake of that story I've ever seen.

On that same note, it takes the best from everything: Dance Among The Wolves, Pochahontas, and apparently Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke, combined with Hornets and Pelicans from Halo, realistic looking mecha that would probably actually be useful, the idea of having a real life avatar, similar enviroments and creatures as the ones on earth; hammerhead rhinos, tiger dogs, pheasant lions, pterodactyls, Bigger pterodactyls and a chosen one subplot.

It's seamless; there are no twists or suprises, we know that the guy will end up as his avatar, in fact we are told it'll work before the war starts. We are introduced to the badass dragon, then we are told that it has been ridden before, and that only a great hero can ride it. Then the hero finds it - using the all important regalia to rally everyone together - another classic move - KotOR's Kashyyyk storyline...

And yet I was suprised when they tore down the tree. I loved that part where he walks in the ashes. The hero swoops in at the end to fight the bad guy - plot no jutsu without a doubt, but not a moment too soon. The oh so sad and almost "a la Last Samurai" mowdown of the Na'Vi - And then the internet connected world - and it's spirit, which probably does exist if the whole world is one, ravaging the humans and their goddamn guns and their mecha - and the 10 foot Tuk-something - Kokoum kicking the shit out of tiny fuckers with machine guns, and I thought everyone would die. But of course the main character single handedly defeats the bomber and th flagship - whatever. He's the one with the dragon, and he also has a machine gun, he can do what he wants. And that's how I would defeat a giant thing anyway. Grenade in the jet intake. Instant Kill.

I also have to give out huge props to Cameron for doging bullets that accommpany cliched stories; the romance is crisp and clear, (thank god) the main character is not the perfectly trained, unshakeable marine he might have been, he cares and we care too so we believe him when he tells us he cares for the world. Kokoum doesn't die as a result of the romance subplot. Not everyone lives happily ever after. A handicapped main charachter that doesn't require any help to get around (Go handicapped people) Neytiri, unlike pocahontas, is not a perfect sexy woman, infact I would daresay that she is not sexualized whatsoever, which is super super great and will shut up the feminists. Also, she's practically topless the entire time but no one cares and I'd think it pretty wrong to get a hard on from a cat-woman (although in context she is pretty and it doesn't look weird) Because of the use of aliens, there is no concept of cultural "brownness" which is one of the big no noes in the traditional tellings of this story. [edit that's not actually true since the Na'Vi pretty much represent some First Nation culture or a meshing of them all. But that might be unavoidable.]There is no peaceful solution; the humans get their asses handed to tem by the planet itself, revenge is obtained, and the asses are cuffed and sent home. I think the list goes on, with the exception of the warmongering Ratcliffe-Colonel Douche, which was hit dead center.

Bottomline. The whole thing was satisfying. If there's a small mistake but you can forgive it, then there was no mistake after all. 10/10. Or 9.99ad infinitum/10

Ultimately, there is genius in taking all the good parts out of a bunch of stories and making another same old remake while trying to cut down on the weaknesses of each. Creating is recycling. New things are born from others. Probably the military is looking into mecha as we speak. Or Hornets.

Props Cam. And everyone else who made your ideas into reality.