We finally saw Avatar last night in 3D (3D IMAX was sold out – doh!). Overall, an entertaining movie, but a few qualms, as follows. SPOILER Alert – while we took almost two months to see the movie (came out on Dec. 18 after all) I’m sure there’s at least a few people left on the planet that haven’t seen it (and don’t likely read this blog either, but FYI) 🙂

Good: VERY impressive effects, Mr. Cameron. Obviously you did your homework (and then some) and I’m sure I wouldn’t catch everything barring many repeat viewings – again, well done!

Good: At least a few minor twists and turns (in an otherwise way-overly-predictable and somewhat thin plot – but see below on that point)

Middling/Nitpicky: It was a bit too long. While I understand the need to have ‘montage’ sequences that help move an otherwise story covering several months along, there were dead spots.

M/N: What were the humans doing all the time while Sully is busy rallying all the Na’vi everywhere else on the planet(?) – Surely he didn’t pull that off in a day – were they just hanging out for him to get his army together so they’d have a real fight on their hands, or? Seems fishy…

Really – I mean, Really (with apologies to Seth & Amy)?: The rallying scene, while decent, is a bit too ‘Braveheart’ for me. I almost could hear Mel Gibson in the background encouraging the Na’vi to kill the British after they were done with the (obviously) American mining company providing the troops and all the heavy equipment – Kennecott Copper Mine, anyone?

R, IMR?: The magic ore they are trying to mine on Pandora is called ‘unobtanium’ – are you f’ing KIDDING me? The first time Giovanni Ribisi says it, I thought he was using a euphemism for the technical name of the ore he didn’t want to tell to the grunt Marine – but then he uses it several times later too – again, that was the best they could come up with? That’s like having a guy who’s supposed to be a hologram walking around with an “H” on his forehead? At least when that was done it was meant as an ongoing joke, for pete’s sake?

R, IMR? : Props to kerewin for noticing that in the last fight scene, the bad guy in the mecha suit pulls out a KNIFE(?!*&$*?) to fight the two main heroes – again, you couldn’t come up with leg or arm-mounted missiles, or rockets, etc.?

Cameron Cameo: Movie ends with mecha character battling aliens – only this time the tables were reversed.

Not Trying Hard Enough: Apparently (nearly) all the money went to special effects and (probably) Signourney Weaver’s salary – Most of the main characters are pretty one-note (Giovanni Ribisi’s mining exec sure doesn’t feel much remorse or struggle over his snap decisionmaking to nuke the Na’vi to get all that great ‘unobtanium’) or total cliche (the Marine colonel you KNOW will be in the end scene fighting the main hero). But it was cool Michelle Rodriguez switched sides, at least they gave her more than just a ‘Sulu’ role of piloting the helicopter around without anything else to do.

NTHE: Almost completely predictable plot. Now it’s true that in waiting two months to see the movie (it’s otherwise known as being L.A.M.E.) there was more than a bit of spoiler info trickling through the media along the way, and I’m sure that affected me a bit – but still, guys – the Alien movies had weird twists and turns, the Terminator movies (even the 3rd one) did too – would it have been too much to ask? At least more conflict within the mining company – one of the scientists getting busted, etc.? Far too linear and predictable.

NTHE: Yet another sci-fi movie where select humans (who you want either to ‘win’ or, survive long enough to get killed – badly – when the hero ‘wins’) – have the ability to hold their breath almost as long as David Blaine despite no practice. Nearly all the main characters do this at some point or another when in the process of getting whacked (or whacking each other with knives, spears, lasers, flying lizards, etc.)