Avatar (12A)

An absolutely magnificent and a genuine masterpiece! For sheer awe, emotion and beauty its sits with the best of them! James Cameron has done it again. From start to finish, the film was engrossing and captivating with understated performances from the main cast. Ok, some of the lines may have been dubious but this is just a speck on the luxurious tapestry Cameron has wove here. As for the plot, it has been seen before but rarely in this way and it certainly works on an emotional level. The final battle is extraordinary and I can honestly say I haven't felt such euphoria when watching a film at the cinema since Star Wars A New Hope. Time will tell if it becomes widely regarded as a classic but I would say it should be put in that category. Go see it for yourself, I'm going again!

I haven't seen this, but interesting to note the gulf in opinion between the review and the large numbers of people who are tickled pink by the film. From what I've read, Avatar seems to typify the trend in Hollywood to throw zillions of dollars at big, bombastic megafilms that value spectacle and thrills over everything else. Cameron was able to make the original Terminator with the most rudimentary of special effects because he had an interesting idea and a solid narrative to hold the attention of the audience. Nowadays, my rule of thumb is that it's not worth watching anything that wouldn't work with the CGI taken out. And with Avatar I get the feeling that I'd be sitting watching a blue screen for 160 minutes.

On this one I stand firm- 2012 is twice the movie Avatar is. It's more entertaining, funnier, there are actual human beings in it and, frankly, I thought the special effects were better. Time will not be kind to either movie, but I'd much rather rewatch '2012' than sit through 'Avatar' ever, ever again...

Tom Huddleston is a 'contrarian', as well as his 3 star rating for Transformers, he gave 2012 4 stars! What is more in his justification for giving 2012 four star he sites that although the film is flawed the special effects some how make the film watchable. For this review of Avatar his main criticism is that the special effects outweigh the plot. Personally i think both films should have got three stars for the sake of consistency. Doesn't Tom think he's being a bit biased?

I haven't seen the film, part of the reason why I'm reading a review, so I can't comment on that. However I have to say that I completely agree with the reviewer that you can never take any film in complete isolation. Your expectations of the film do affect how much you rate it. An actor or directors work history definitely can be taken into account here.

Terrible, vapid rip off of a film. As stated above, nothing more than a con trick to extort more money from filmgoers by forcing '3d' on them. All flash and no trousers.

Don't believe this review, it's SO much fun. Looks great in 3D.

It was jaw-dropping from start to finish, it’s not because of elaborate set pieces or objects flying towards the audience, it’s because for 161 minutes, the audience is transported to a living, breathing and completely believable alien planet and get to witness it’s own eco-system and living jungle. The detail is obscene, but thoroughly rewarding. All of this would of course be a waste of time if it didn’t have the storyline to back it up. Please don’t worry; this is as solid a sci-fi narrative as you could hope for, a classic fish out of water tale, with some added depth. Whilst this is a hulking effort of cinema, the (uncomplicated) narrative is reassuringly strong, and revolves around a handful of intimate relationships. This gives the audience time to not only take in this fantastic new world being presented on screen, but to care about these characters and their development. This is not to say that the film doesn’t have any problems, I agree it’s big and silly (The ‘Na’vi’ are 10 foot tall, blue cats for starters…) And sure, Cameron still can’t write (human) dialogue, and beware of Sam Worthington’s fluctuating accent. But none of this is problem enough not to detract a great deal from the experience at hand. Cameron’s space opera is a thrilling piece of narrative cinema, which deserves the attention it has been stirring. It’s lengthy run time flies by as it hits the ground running and avoids any unnecessary pauses in momentum.

Hi Tom- Do you not feel a responsibility to your readers to give a consistent point of view especially when you use a universal 5 star rating system. I know it is an easy shortcut that all reviewers use in one form or another to convey their opinion, but it seems misleading when you are only comparing Cameron's movies to his own previous efforts, or Bay's to his. That's all I have. Respond if you wish. Thanks.

Hey Kingsly, I have seen the film and 2 stars is crazy. I don't enjoy paying over £10 for the cinema, but for Avatar I'd make an exception...'it's hard to fault Avatar as an immersive visual experience' I loved it