[Originally written in 2013]

In the year 2154, a major corporation is searching for some valuable mineral named unobtanium that’s worth billions of dollars on a planet called Pandora. The planet is populated by some alien-like creatures called the Na’Vi. In order to get close to them, humans are using Na’Vi avatars in order to get the Na’Vi to trust them so they can get more unobtanium. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) is the head of the Avatar program who’s trying to research this particular mineral. She uses Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine to get involved in the program. When Jake is turned into a Na’Vi, he is fascinated by the world of Pandora and falls in love with a female Na’Vi named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). He also assists some corporate marines or security people in getting some info so they can demolish the area in exchange for getting his legs back. But Jake’s feelings change and he helps them fight for their land.

I remember when this came out, everyone was crazy about Sam Worthington. Just like Gretchen in Mean Girls was trying to make “fetch” happen, Hollywood really wanted this guy to make it big. After watching it, I don’t get it. He’s definitely no Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. This guy is supposed to be American but his native Australian tongue slips in and out constantly. He is good looking, I can’t deny that. As for the rest of the actors, they were all solid. Sigourney Weaver was great, Stephen Lang was great as the villainous army leader, and Zoe Saldana was okay. I’ve heard and read some people have said that she was a sexy alien and I don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, she’s an attractive woman sans CGI but to each their own.

Every character is so black and white. When someone’s bad, they’re really bad. When they’re good, they’re really good. It’s great to look at visually. The story is lacking though. I did really like the idea of these people using avatars in another world. But it becomes cliched. The dialogue is cheesy too. The love story has been done a million times before. The only difference is they use blue people this time. Apparently, the movie is supposed to be about protecting the environment. Here’s the thing: I came in this movie not giving a care about the environment and I came back out the same way. But if Cameron wants to spread that message then be my guest. If you got some profound thing out of it, then good for you. It probably would have been even better if I saw it in the theater considering all the praise about how it looked on the big screen. I was unable to at the time but later is better than never. Is it a masterpiece? No. I can’t say that it deserved a Best Picture Oscar nomination. I’m not saying that I hated it. It’s good but I didn’t think “Oh my god, this movie deserves an Oscar!” At the end of the day, this movie is good entertainment.