Avatar.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We also saw this last night. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The 3D was great (non-IMAX).

No irksome sidekicks, no cutesy alien pets, no in-your-face comic relief. THANK GOD. For an over the top CG extravaganza, it got surprisingly down to the necessary components.

The world was fully realized, full of fun without being gimmicky or video-game-ish. There was one moment where I thought "what an awesome interactive blacklight playground this would make", but that was about it.

Spoiler:

I love how movies like this are able to play both sides of issues.

1. You hate the humans, hate the military, hate the profiteering...but what is it that saves the day? A human who learns to love the People. It's a classic redemption story, a "one person saves a race", but which race are they saving? Both...

2. When Jake asks Aywa for help in battle and he's told that Aywa doesn't take sides, I really dug it. "That's right, mother nature doesn't take sides!" But then, oh wait, no. Necessary, perhaps, but I liked the previous idea better. I guess it's easy to argue that Aywa was just defending herself.

I was reminded of many other movies but in pleasant ways. To me it didn't feel like it was stealing ideas so much as presenting new ways of looking at them.

I loved the moment the gawky scientist's Avatar gets hit, and the human stumbles out of his pod, unharmed though in shock. Yay, it's not the Matrix! "Your mind makes it real" my ass.

Weird Al jokingly called it "Cameron's $250mil Smurf Movie" but I have to admit I was reminded of the Smurfs, with the environmental message and the looming evil that wants to exploit them. Blue skin helps too.

When Jake is being chased by the crazy monster near the beginning, the noises it makes are exactly like the dinos in Jurassic Park. I groaned a bit at that. For crying out loud, make some new crazy beast noises!

Since we just watched the Phantom Menace review in full, which mentions that Lucas kept shoehorning crap in the background in both the prequels and the Special Edition OT, I felt extra sensitive to an overloaded background...but I think Avatar did have a good amount of this action without overwhelming the viewer, and kept the focus clear.

Yeah, slightly weak dialogue but I've definitely heard worse. Very good casting.

It didn't make me cry at any point, and though I did feel for the characters I think it didn't quite hit as deep an emotional mark as it might have.

Overall, this is the type of thing that defines the genre of Science Fiction / Fantasy. Awesomeness.