Avatar 3D

I don't where to start with Avatar. One of the most expensive movies ever made, first really massive blockbuster to be made in 3D, and now the biggest grossing film of all time with takings of over $2billion.

Pity they didn't spend money on a plot...

Humans are on the planet Pandora where they are mining Unobtanium which sells for millions of dollars per kilo - no, I'm not making this is up, this really is the story.

Humans can't breathe on Pandora but they've developed 'avatars' of themselves as locals which people can operate telepathically by being in a sort of pod. Thus they can interact with the restless locals. Ex-marines provide security for the humans.

Bascially take 30% of Lord of the Rings, 30% Star Wars, 30% Apocalyse Now and, somewhat bizarrely, 10% of the campfest that is Flash Gordon and you have a bit of idea of the film.

Overall the themes seem to be that raping a planet of resources is bad, the military will always fire first and ask questions later, and big business is evil. Messages and the read across to green issues, climate change, the Iraq/Iran/Vietnam wars are all there with massive klaxons going off just in case you haven't quite got it.

It is a beautifully shot film - you can see where the money went - but it's a falsehood that this is a 3D 'game changer'. Actually much of the film would be as impressive in 2D, the 3D effects are good but not 'wow!', and you can easily watch huge chunks of this without your annoying 3D glasses if you want.

But what this does show is how far CGI has come on in recent years - frankly the actors are optional and could easily be completely done artificially via computer. Indeed, in the future we may not need/see real actors - whole films could be done with a complete cast of Avatars.

And that, not the 3D effects, is what the legacy of this, rather mediocre, film will be.