10 years in the making eh? At a cost of $200m, although it’s not Cameron’s most expensive film, it is unbelievably a huge amount of money on a movie.

As a lover of film, I always try to see movies, especially those in particular I’ve been waiting for, with a clear mind. That will mean a mental black out of articles, reviews, films, trailers etc. With Avatar that’s been nigh on impossible and I think it’s one of the most hyped up movies of the past decade. Film posters everywhere, games, merchandise, McDonald’s – you simply can’t escape the machine. Unfortunately, I went to the movie expecting BIG things based on this hype. Amazingly, I wasn’t disappointed.

The story you all know, but for those at the back, we’re talking hoorah America seeking to ruin the natural and peaceful habitat of a biped race of people from a distant, lush, planet that appears to be home to a very valuable source of unobtanium. Cue, hired guns and mercenaries and dirty corporate tactics.

Meanwhile, our protaganist, the freaking awesome Sam Worthington, is part of a new experiment where he exchanges his (wheelchair bound, crippled) body for a fully functioning, genetically grown clone of one our alien lifeforms.

The first thing you notice, the thing that doesn’t change and the last thing you notice, is the jaw dropping spectacle of Cameron’s vision. In full 3D, on a large, digital cinema screen, it is a life changing experience. Cameron has been noted many times recently for claiming that Avatar will to for Cinema what Technicolour did in the 60’s. What we’re talking about here is a reinvention of standards and I welcome it with a massive grin and yelping gestures.

I donned a 3 hour smile through the most amazing looking film of all time. The Na’vi, in all their animated glory, are simply not a CGI backdrop and are a pivotal, real, tangible, part of this story, Last time I was taken in by so much character was with Golem.

As Jake (Sam Worthington) spends more time with the Na’vi, learning their culture and gathering inteligence as a home-made spy, he slowly starts to favour his avatar over his parked, paraplegic body and in doing so, becomes a ‘part’ of the Na’vi tribe.

What follows is a climax of maniacal proportions as the inevitable battle comes to a head with the modern tech of US Marines fighting against a spiritual breed of people that demonstrate strong ties with everything organic around them. To boot, I’ve always been an admirer of Cameron’s choice to always place strong, leading women and although we don’t have our Ripley or Sarah Conor, what we do have is a fabulous Neytiri, his female Na’vi ambassador. She is deliciously woven as a warrior/hunter woman and you can’t help but relate to the conflicted emotions of Jack.

Story is a little predictable, but if you’re a comic book fan you’ll love the sheer audacity of the plot, even if you occasionally grown inwards as the story unfolds. It’s typically American avant-garde, with the right dose of marine mentality, countered with the frequent self loathing and defecating quips of corporate greed.

A very very cool movie and I suspect James Cameron will be reveling in this achievement of having created a cinematic equivalent of the great Renaissance.

p.s. you MUST MUST watch the 3D version. It’s a revelation.