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Released: 2009
Sci-Fi
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver
Running Time: 162 minutes
Rated: PG-13

The breakdown: A recycled story about how humans are the crappiest species with fantastic eye-popping special effects.



From the breakdown you can see I'm not a big fan of this movie.  I went to go see it in the theaters originally when it was released in 3D.  Although the special effects are absolutely mind blowing, the story is an old and overdone plot with a lot left to be desired.  Basically, a paraplegic Marine in a futuristic society gets sent to a moon called Pandora to eradicate a race of giant blue people so that humans can mine the planet for it's special ore.  He gets a new body, or avatar, and in this new body he can blend in with the locals and actually walk.  He loves walking again and is learning a lot about the blue aliens.  He ends up falling in love and wants to save the world he has come to accept as his home.
James Cameron thinks a bit too much of himself with his projects and this one is no different.  Instead of focusing on making a great story, he tries to wow audiences with super fantastic special effects.  Without a doubt, the computer graphics in this movie are so stunning and beautiful, but it doesn't make up for the lack of a good plot.
See it for the special effects if you haven't seen it yet, but don't expect much from the plot.

3 out of 5.  All of my 3 stubs are for special effects alone.