I had a similar experience to when I saw “Star Wars” back in 1977 while watching “Avatar.” I went into that movie with hazy expectations as well. Similar to “Titanic,” James Cameron’s movie has been the focus of the consistently negative advance talk. He has once more hushed the skeptics by merely producing a superb movie. At least one man who has the ability to wisely spend $250,000,000—or was it $300,000,000—remains in Hollywood.

Even though it is sensational entertainment, “Avatar” is more than that. It represents a technical advance. Its message is unmistakably anti-war and green. It will undoubtedly start a cult. It has so fine visual detail that repeated viewings would be worthwhile. It creates a new language, Na’vi, much like “Lord of the Rings,” but thankfully I doubt that even teenage humans could speak it. It produces new Hollywood stars. It is an Event, one of those films you feel you must see to stay up with the conversation.

The story takes place in the year 2154 and centres on a U.S. military mission to an earth-sized moon orbiting a powerful star. A material that Earth sorely needs can be found in abundance on this new world, Pandora. We deploy ex-military mercenaries to Pandora to assault and subdue them even though they pose no threat to Earth at all. Gung-ho warriors use machine guns and command armoured hovercraft that are used for bombing missions. You are allowed to see this as an allegory for modern politics. Cameron obviously does.

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The Na’vi, a blue-skinned, golden-eyed race of slender giants that stand about 12 feet tall each, live peacefully in a forest on the planet Pandora. Humans cannot breathe the air, and the environment has reduced us to pygmies. We utilise avatars—Na’vi lookalikes developed naturally and mind-controlled by humans who remain wired up in a trance-like state on the ship—to leave our landing craft. They perceive, fear, taste, and feel like Na’vi while serving as avatars, and they share all of their physical prowess.

For the protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who is paraplegic, this final quality is liberating. He’s been recruited because he’s a genetic match for a dead identical twin, who an expensive avatar was created for. In his avatar condition, he can once more walk, and as payment for this service, he will receive a highly costly operation to allow him to move his legs again. Theoretically, he is safe since even if his avatar is destroyed, his human form is unaffected. in concept.

Jake is a fine soldier at first on Pandora, but once Neytiri, a slender and courageous native, saves his life, he turns native (Zoe Saldana). He finds it is indeed true, as the aggressive Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) briefed them, that nearly every species of life here wants him for lunch. (Avatars are not be made of Na’vi flesh, but try explaining that to a charging 30-ton rhino with a snout like a hammerhead shark).

The Na’vi are able to live in harmony with nature, have a thorough understanding of their home world, and have wisdom towards the creatures they coexist with. They are similar to Native Americans in this and a variety of other ways. They tame a different species, not horses, but gorgeous flying dragon-like creatures, to transport them around. One of the best scenes in the movie is when Jake manages to capture and tame one of these enormous animals.

The special effects used in “Avatar” are from a new generation, just like in “Star Wars” and “LOTR.” Many questioned Cameron’s claim that it would happen. It does. Pandora uses a lot of CGI. Through the use of motion capture methods, the Na’vi are realistically embodied. They avoid the unsettling Uncanny Valley effect while having the appearance of being particular, convincing people. However, I’ll be damned if Cameron and his artists succeed in transforming Neytiri into a blue-skinned giantess with golden eyes and a long, supple tail. Sexy.

The film’s length of 163 minutes doesn’t seem excessive. There is so much in it. stories about people. Because the Na’vi are also evolved as people, the Na’vi stories. the intricate nature of the earth, which conceals a universal mystery. Jake joining the resistance to fight his former allies in the ultimate battle. Small, graceful details, like a floating being that embodies goodness and resembles a cross between a blowing dandelion seed and a drifting jellyfish. or amazing cloud islands that float.

I’ve complained that many recent films abandon story telling in their third acts and go for wall-to-wall action. In essence, Cameron does that in this scene, but he has done a good job of developing his characters so that what they do in combat and how they do it matter. There are more important concerns at play than just who will prevail.

In “Avatar,” Cameron promised to introduce the newest 3-D technology. Being a pointless diversion from the flawless reality of 2-D movies, I am a well-known sceptic of this approach. The best I’ve seen is Cameron’s, and more importantly, it’s one of the best executed. The film never uses 3-D simply because it has it, and doesn’t promiscuously violate the fourth wall.

He also seems quite aware of 3-D’s weakness for dimming the picture, and even with a film set largely in interiors and a rainforest, there’s sufficient light. I saw the film in 3-D on a good screen at the AMC River East and was impressed. I might be awesome in True IMAX. Good luck in getting a ticket before February.

It takes a hell of a lot of nerve for a man to stand up at the Oscarcast and proclaim himself King of the World. James Cameron just got re-elected.