These are my feelings as described in my FB status:
Avatar is visually incredible, decidedly derivative, overly long, and annoyingly political. The best moments felt lifted from better films. The best characters still felt one-dimensional. Rating: 4/10. What a let down.

discuss

it looked great, the 3D was really well done, it was about as stupid as I expected it to be and I didn't think I would like it but I was completely taken by its visual intensity. I never saw a full-length film in 3D before, and this was pretty classy--they don't use it to make stuff poke out of the screen at you, but to convey the hugeness of a space, or the closeness of a character, fullness and emptiness, contrast between interior and exterior.

also, I thought the action sequences were amazing. Most action movies nowadays are all about shakycam and quick cuts, things are moving real fast and that's about all you can tell. avatar gives you a little more to chew on, the shots are incredibly detailed and you're meant to actually spend a moment taking it all in.

i'm not really a fan of action movies and i don't watch many, so my tastes in this genre are perhaps less cultivated and what seems fresh to me may be old hat to another. but if, like me, you were baffled by the good reviews and didn't think you were still capable of enjoying a film that is basically made entirely of special effects, i suggest to give this a shot anyway and see it on a big screen.

Heavy handed message and stoopid plot but still worth seeing. James Cameron has not forgotten how to direct an action sequence.

Waiting for "The Last Airbender".
While it will be made by the uneven M. Night Shyamalan,but it is the only true Avatar movie

I only just realized that this movie isn't about the Last Airbender.

One of the better movies I've seen this year.

No, I'm not going into further detail.

Did you see District 9?
was it better then that?

Yes and yes. Both movies are great, but D9 was gritty and hard to stay focused on. Avatar will keep your attention during less action-involved moments with amazing detail to the environment and the creatures, sometimes to the point where I felt more focused on the background characters over the center of attention. Action and graphics aside, the story is almost exactly Ferngully, but to be honest, I really don't give a shit. At least Avatar doesn't have Robin Williams playing a bastard fruitbat that serves no purpose to the plot other than irritating the shit out of you.

Seeing both of the trailers for these at once really confused the shit out of me at first.

I'm seeing Avatar tonight as soon as my friends get off work

One of my friends said it best, "Avatar was a really, really, really, really, really kickass Fern Gully remake."

You know Ferngully was called Ferngully: The last Rainforest,
If you mix that with Avatar you get Avatar: the last rainforest, which becomes even more confusing compared to Avatar: the Last Airbender.
I think that's what James Cameron did , he just watched kids cartoons over and over and then said "Hey let's put this stuff in a blender, make it 3D with guns in space"

universal formula for success

This. In being really fucking obnoxious during the entire length of the movie, we kept making Ferngully, Smurfs, Braveheart, and WoW jokes.

Though I have to say overall, the movie was really good and definitely worth a watch if you haven't already.

ok, so recently i found this website that has like 100 year old stereographs of naked ladies, now that i have seen 3D asses from history i really feel less impressed about avatar, i feel like people actually understand less about the possibilities of 3D technology today than they once did.

Finally got around to seeing it just yesterday, I was really completely blown away.

You should PM a link. (or post one)

Are stereographs like those glasses you can wear with two pictures that create a 3-D effect???

It's two pictures of something taken from two slightly different angles and then animated to make it look 3D. Pretty tripsack.

So-so story, optical orgasm.

Best enjoyed on drugs.