James Cameron has made a name for himself for one-upping even his own films.  In the worlds he brings to film, the eye-popping never stops - be it the incredible creatures of Aliens or The Abyss, the mind-bending time travel of Terminator and T2, or the sensational realization of Titanic.  He is perhaps the most technically proficient director working today, and is known within the industry for working his cast and crew (and himself) to the brink of exhaustion to bring his films to life.  Avatar is no exception.  Cameron pushes the envelope further still, and delivers a film - believe it or not - even bigger than Titanic.

From its first frame to its last, Avatar is a feast for the eyes.  Dog- and tiger-like animals roam the face of this distant planet in the future, and the moss that covers this forest glows with phosphoresence when compressed.  Many have compared it to Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings.  Avatar is certainly not "better" than such films (well, maybe better than A New Hope, but certainly not Empire Strikes Back), but is definitely more sensational.  The Matrix didn't create another world so much as it displaced our own.  Lord of the Rings created another world, but it was still grounded in this one.  Avatar creates another world entirely, with complex, thought-out biology, botany, mysticism and culture. 

The film’s major weakness is its script.  Cameron’s screenplays have gotten more and more concept-centric through the years, and the brilliance of his dialogue and complexity of his characters in T2 and The Abyss has fallen to the wayside.  There is no character here as cool as Yoda or Han Solo or Gandalf, the villain is annoyingly one-dimensional, and some of the dialogue these poor actors have to deliver is pretty hokey.

Despite its flaws, the imagination that went into the realization of Avatar is breathtakingly creative.  This is the kind of film the big screen was made for - one you have to see (in 3D, if you can)!