(3.5 out of 5 stars)

Avatar is truly a masterpiece of special effects. It dazzles with the environments it creates as well as the Na’vi species themselves. The story has holes galore and so many questions that should have been answered to make a truly great movie. From what I can piece together, the plot is about some humans who find a planet with a blue alien species that have a special peace with nature but also harbor unknowingly a mineral beneath its surface that sells like hotcakes back on Earth. We have some scientists who want to learn the people and the land, an army guy who wants to blow them to bits, and an executive who just wants the mineral no matter the costs. Oh yeah, we have Jake Sully, a guy who has been thrust into the Avatar program to make his fake Na’vi creature interact with the real ones and its up to him whether to get to know them or exploit them. This movie really has to be rated on its individual parts.

Special Effects – 9/10 – The technology is amazing. There were just a handful of scenes where the Na’vi did not seem real. Overall, the scenery looked like you could step onto it and the Na’vi seemed as real as an animal or other earthly being (especially when seen in IMAX 3D which is the best way to view this spectacle).

Plot – 5/10 – It just does not make the grade. Let’s look at all the questions. Why does Jake Sully have no legs? How many years has this program endured? How did earth scientists make fake Na’vi (so called Avatars) to fake out the Na’vi people? Why is this mineral/gem so special? What year is it? These questions probably only deserved five to 10 minutes, but would have helped with character development and further concern about the plant. I didn’t think one movie could have as many questions as Lost, but this one might have.

Character – 6/10 – I already mentioned Jake Sully. Could we have been given a more definitive reason of what his motivation was? Making up for his brother’s death? Was he always the lesser brother? Although we see scientist Grace truly caring about the Na’vi, was she not also conflicted how she had duped this species and how she had been taken advantage of by the people wanting the mineral/gem? Overall, the characters were not bad; I just wanted more for this to be an amazing movie.

Finally, why don’t we compare James Cameron to George Lucas? They’re both special effects visionaries; however, Cameron has shown time and time again his superiority. Lucas created new computer generated characters in the recent Star Wars trilogy, yet his original trilogy looked more realistic using rubber masks. Lucas gave us lines like “Yipee” from young Anakin, while Cameron calls the mineral ‘unobtanium.’ The problem is Lucas continues this horrible line of dialogue while Cameron creates intelligent dialogue between his character showing he is the grade A writer/director and Lucas has become a B grade has been.

Avatar is impressive and story aside, it is worth seeing. Like most science fiction or action movies, you have to put the unanswered and the preposterous aside, and just enjoy the movie. The actors, Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington, do great as the humans and Zoe Saldana is great as the lead Na’vi character infusing a beauty within this very spiritual species. This movie will not work on the small screen. See this world on the big screen while you still can.