Avatar

Before I dive in, let me first address those who aren't really interested in Avatar and don't intend on seeing it.  You may not think you give a shit about a movie starring tall blue cat people, but I assure you, you will.  You don't have to be a big sci-fi/fantasy fan to enjoy this.  Avatar is for anyone who enjoys movies, period.  It's a ride, it's an event, it's cool, and it's fun.  You're gonna break down eventually anyway after everyone tells you to see it, so you might as well just save yourself the trouble.

Now then, two things to talk about are the technology/special effects of the movie and the story of the movie itself.

Much has been said about the hundreds of millions of dollars and years that went into making this movie, how director James Cameron wants to be an innovator, etc.  I've seen advertisements for the film that exclaim "Avatar will change the way you see movies FOREVER!"  Which is pretty much the most ridiculous statement you can make.  But you know what?  It's kind of true, in a way.  Avatar is gonna make 3-D a big deal at the movies.

3-D has already started to creep into modern movies.  The animated movie Beowulf, which I caught a few years back, was the first new 3-D movie of its kind that I've seen...that's actually a real movie, not like Under the Ocean 3-D or whatever.  Up until this point though, it's generally been limited to animated movies and cheesy horror flicks (My Bloody Valentine 3-D, The Final Destination).  This is gonna be the first modern 3-D movie that everyone and their mother will see.  And it's damn impressive.

Avatar takes place on a exotic alien moon called Pandora.  It's a jungle environment with all sorts of various beasties out to get you...and it's quite beautiful as well.  There are mountains that hover in the sky and flying glowing jellyfish and of course, the aforementioned blue cat people, known as the Navi. 

There are action sequences involving flying, falling, swinging, etc. that are made much more immersive with the use of 3-D and a sense of depth.  What it all boils down to is that they created this fantastical alien moon, and the fact that it's right in your face via the 3-D, and beautifully rendered as well, actually makes it plausible enough for you to feel like it's real.

None of this would amount to much, however, if the story was shit.  It's not.

Humans are on Pandora to mine a source of fuel called "unobtanium".  It's incredibly precious, and it means big bucks.  The alien humanoid race they encounter, the Navi, are unfortunate enough to be living right on top of the single greatest source of unobtanium.  The humans are trying to negotiate terms for the Navi to leave their home so that they can mine the shit out of it, but the Navi have proved uncooperative. 

Our main character Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a crippled marine who, purely due to the untimely death of his brother, is selected to participate in an avatar program on Pandora.  A group of scientists (including James Cameron flick alumnus Sigourney Weaver and the dude who talked like a robot in Grandma's Boy) are plugging their minds into Navi bodies, Matrix-style, in an attempt to blend in with the indigenous people, learn their ways, and gain their trust.  Jake is a grunt, he's no scientist, but it turns out he's the right man for the job.

Jake loves his experience inhabiting a Navi body right away because duh, now he can walk and run again.  He catches on quickly to being a Navi, despite his lack of formal training.  On his first official mission exploring Pandora, Jake gets attacked by a particularly nasty beastie, and as he flees, he gets separated from the group.  He's out there in this harsh environment all alone - no one expects him to make it through the night alive.

In the middle of the night, Jake gets attacked once again - this time, by a pack of hyena-like creatures.  A real Navi woman named Neytiri encounters him and is about to stick a poison tipped arrow right through his heart, but one of those flying glowing jellyfish creatures gets in her way, and she decides against it.  She helps him instead, much as it pains her to kill the hyena creatures, because she seems to have a tremendous respect for all things in nature.

Neytiri thinks Jake is an idiot, but she lets him follow her to the Navi tribe anyway.  The rest of the Navi tribe doesn't quickly warm up to him - they recognize immediately that he's a fake Navi, an alien.  They want to kill him, but Neytiri protests - she saw a sign (the jellyfish intervening), so he must live.  The Navi tribe agree to let Jake stay, and Neytiri is put in charge of his training in the Navi ways.

Now whenever Jake the Navi sleeps, he returns to his human form.  There are three identifiable factions back at the human camp.  There are the scientists, which I already mentioned.  They're jealous that Jake has fallen ass backwards into the tribe and was able to do what they could not - ingratiate himself in the Navi people.  Then there are the corporate interests.  They could give a fuck about the Navi people either way, they just want that unobtanium, dammit, so they can ensure high quarterly profits.  They are willing to let Jake try gaining the Navi people's trust for a little while.  If he can get them to leave peacefully, so be it.  But they are willing to use force if necessary.  Which brings us to the third faction, the marines.

Jake officially works for the scientists, but the badass marine corporal makes a deal with him.  The corporal, of course, doesn't expect the peaceful route to get them anywhere.  He asks Jake to report to him, to give him any useful intel that would help take the Navi down.  In return, the corporal will arrange for Jake to get the surgery that will get his REAL legs back, at home.  Sounds like a pretty good deal.  Jake is fully on board.
 
In the coming months, Jake gets immersed in the Navi culture.  Neytiri teaches him how to speak the language, ride a "horse", fire a bow & arrow, hunt cleanly and with respect for nature.  He makes it to a Navi rite of passage by which a Navi must tame and ride a dragon for the first time.  Jake succeeds - he is now a man in the eyes of the tribe.

It should come as no surprise that Jake and Neytiri start to fall for each other.  The creators of the movie did a pretty good job of making Neytiri very attractive despite being a blue cat person, so the audience can understand the appeal.  Though I'm sure the actress underneath (Zoe Saldana) was largely responsible for that.

Jake starts to feel like his life as a Navi is more real than his life as a human.  The corporal questions his resolve to the mission, with good reason.  Jake knows in the back of his mind that the humans are gonna get impatient for that unobtanium, but he kinda pushes that concern aside.  He's having too much fun.  Jake and Neytiri mate, which is no small thing in Navi culture.  You're essentially married to each other upon first fuck.  Finally, Jake participates in a ceremony in which he is fully accepted into the Navi people.  He's one of them now.

At this point, the humans' patience has worn out.  They're sending in the bulldozers, towards the direction of the giant tree all the Navi live in.  Jake attacks one of the bulldozers, and now it's clear to the corporal where his sympathies lie.  He's switched teams.  Jake tries to warn the Navi that shit's going down, but they get pissed off at him, including Neytiri.  After all, he knew this was going to happen all along. 

The marines unleash an all-out aerial assault on the Navi home tree, and they don't even know what hit them.  Their bows & arrows aren't much of a match for the humans' heli-planes and missles.  The Navi home tree is laid to waste, the Navi people barely escape the ruins with their lives.  With their home destroyed, they are nomads.  Jake is disgraced in the eyes of the Navi people, and is disconnected from his Navi body besides.

I'll end the plot summary there, but Jake must find his way back into his Navi body, back into the good graces of the Navi tribe, and then lead them in battle against the marines.