★ ★ ★ ★ 'Avatar' looks stunning in 3D on a large screen, but story-wise it relies on a well trodden plot and broadly drawn charicatures. Yes, it strongly resembles both 'Dances With Wolves' and 'FernGully', but James Cameron never patronises his audience by overly sign-posting its stock plot devices, and the films clunky exposition is rattled out in the first 20 minutes, allowing us to kick back and drift into its enchanting world. Some have called it preachy - I think that depends whether you sympathise with the film's anti-corporate, anti-military stance or not. Certainly, the Na'vi are obviously Native Americans painted blue, and the hunt for Unobtainium is arguably a metaphor for Western military interests in the Midlle East. These themes are handled with the subtlety of a T-800, but it is at least welcome to see a mainstream film with the guts to express a "controversial" opinion. When special-effects of this quality are common-place, 'Avatar' may no longer seem so impressive, but right now, it lives up to its "game-changing" hype. The 'Star Wars' of its geneartion.
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