Avatar

After all that hype, the movie did live up to it, and then some. So that's great for James Cameron making a comeback to the big screen.Watching it, I couldn't help but feel like this was like playing an MMORPG; where initially you have to train up your avatar, go on quests, build a reputation and in the end get ready for a big fight. I think any gamer would appreciate this. If they are indeed making the World Of Warcraft movie, this is how it should be done.For a movie that is close to three hours long, Cameron did fantastic with the pacing and storytelling. But of course we had all the visual effects to numb our minds and keep us entertained, not a bad thing when it was done so so well. They are even better than those short clips in PC games which usually reigned supreme.Some jarring loopholes spotted were the timeline when Sam Worthington's character going in and out of his avatar. Sigourney Weaver mentioned that the Na'vi started their day early and yet, Worthington seemed to have a lot of time on his hands to video-log and debrief. How can he function well and train properly when he was lacking in sleep.But the one thing that is keeping this movie from being brilliant is the Hollywood-cliche writing. The strict formula it followed made the story very predictable. No doubt the movie is very good, but District 9 will still be more memorable because of its uniqueness when compared to this one.I also found how there was no remorse in all of the soldiers difficult to swallow. The soldiers were all emotionless when they piled in the barrage on the native's home and only Michelle Rodriguez go, "I didn't sign up for this shit" and flew away.Another thing that really bugged me was the pronunciations of names by the two species. When Jake Sully introduced himself to the spirit mother, she in turn immediately called him Jake "Sooly" rather than copying his phonetics. Same thing with humans when they addressed Neytiri as Ney-tee-ri, when in the Na'vi tongue her name is pronounced as "Ney-ti-ri". I know I'm being picky but why the inconsistency?Nevertheless, this movie was a thrilling ride. All kudos to Cameron. And kudos on making Neytiri look alien but still hawt when she smiled so gently at Jake.Rating: 8 / 10