Sweet friggin' mother of giant rabid monkeys on chocolate-covered sticks in HELL!! This movie's visuals are beyond words. Every single shot has you nearly in tears at how gorgeous it is. The 3D, which feels a bit odd at first, eventually becomes a gigantic visual boost that actually serves the experience instead of being gimmicky. The actual design of the world, the fauna and flora, the Na'vi and every other tiny thing in the movie is incredibly intricate and complete. There is enough material hinted at in this movie to make a whole saga (Star Wars, anyone?) without running out of ideas and new things to explore. The acting of the Na'vi is now perfectly on par with actual humans in terms of believability (the main female protagonist is in fact probably the most lifelike character in the film), thanks to advanced motion capture and rendering.
The main criticism everyone has had with this film is the story, mainly pertaining to the fact that it's basically a rehashing of existing ideas. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass if the story elements or structure are not totally new if the emotional and narrative effect is nonetheless positive. I really managed to connect to the world and feel for the characters, and I feel nostalgic about the movie as I write this, which tells me that the story did something right. I'd compare it to Star Wars, which was also a rehashing of age-old story structures and elements... but it's a rehashing done right, damn it, and that's worthy of some praise as well!
This will probably be the first movie that I will see three times in theatres, because after all, the experience of watching this in 3D in HD on a large screen won't be achievable in living rooms for another few years. Somehow, something feels historic about this flick, and I'm not going to miss out on that!
Now bring on the sequel!
In a sentence:
A new cinematic milestone that will likely become the Star Wars of the new millennium. Possibly better.
