Avatar - This is why we GO to the movies.

I don't really know where to begin with reviewing James Cameron's Avatar but we'll get to that in a minute. First, the plot of Avatar is basically the story of Jake Sully, a marine in the not too distant future (2154) who has lost the use of his legs in combat. Jake had a twin brother who was a brilliant scientist working on the Avatar project but he was killed and now Jake has the opportunity to take his place since they were twins and share the same genomes. Anyway, Avatars are 10 foot tall human/alien hybrids that have been created to try to bring a sort of peace between the earthlings and the aliens that inhabit the moon of Pandora. The earth people are there because our planet is dying and there is a mineral on this moon that we really need to be able to save our world. This is really all the setup you need for this movie and pretty much all you are given going into it.

Now, when I said that I didn't know where to begin in reviewing this movie it wasn't because I am not sure how I feel about it but because I am torn about how I feel about it. I am a fan of James Cameron's movies and in fact Aliens is my favorite movie of all time. That being said I was disappointed with this movie. When you watch other James Cameron movies there is a level of suspense that he is so good at creating, almost better than any other filmmaker out there. Aliens is a roller coaster of a film from start to finish and you didn't know who, if anyone, would make it out of there alive. During the Abyss I bet many of you were on the edge of your seat (I know I was) when Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (sp?) had drowned and Ed Harris was beating on her chest to bring her back from the brink. Hell even though you KNEW how Titanic would end there was still a sense of suspense of what would happen and who would survive. Well unfortunately there is no suspense to be found in Avatar. Any movie fan out there can see exactly where this movie is going to take you the moment it starts. There are no surprises.

Now you might think from reading this review that I hated the movie. Not at all I loved it while I watched it. As predictable the story is and how bad the acting and characters were at times I still sat in the theater dumbstruck. This is why this review is so tough, because I would recommend that you go see this but I cannot recommend it as a movie.

You may be asking yourself what the hell I mean and I will do my best to explain. Whenever I am watching a movie that I really like I find myself thinking how I cannot wait to own it on DVD and watch it over and over. I never felt that way about Avatar. Not once. But, this movie does deserve to be seen in theaters and 3D is a requirement believe me. For the almost 3 hour running time you will be completely transported to another world and isn't that really why we go to the movies?

James Cameron has created a spectacle that needs to be seen in theaters and I as always cannot wait to see where he goes next as I think it will be much better than Avatar.

In conclusion see it once in the best 3D you can find and then dream about where we will go from here.