Avatar ***

Writer/Director: James Cameron

Year: 2009

Cinematographer: Mauro Fiore

Visually incredible, especially in 3D. I saw it twice in 3D at a quality theater and was taken on a ride for sure.

The problem is with the story, its been done before (much better in Dances With Wolves) and the dialogue turns everyone into stereotyped cartoon characters. A big anti-corporation, anti-racism, anti-colonialism, pro-environmentalism film works as a cultural zeitgeist, but its ironic to hear coming from the most expensive corporate Hollywood film ever made.

Appreciate the visual effects and the new technologies invented to bring them to the screen, but ultimately the story doesn't support the visuals. What good are technological leaps in CGI if the storytelling is ho-hum?

Maybe this film was just supposed to be a demo for new technologies, and hopefully the next time they are used a director with better story-telling skills will be wielding them.

However, I won't be buying this one on DVD, instead, I'll be popping in Dances With Wolves again to see that real buffalo hunt.