If I might be so bold, what is so wrong about a movie that tells a story we have all heard before? Call me crazy but that seems to be the way in which any story/movie has ever been told.
Dances With Wolves was the combination of the European and American man taking over the Native American's land mixed with a romantic center.
Star Wars brought together the idea of an evil expansionist Empire with that of the single hero taught by an elderly mentor.
Titanic was the well known historical disaster meshed with the romance of a young girl with father issues falling in love with the bad boy from the lower class.
See, it can be argued that no one wants to hear the same story again and again, but not only does that happen, but such stories become widely popular and become part of our culture. There are just two things that need to be done in order for such a "retelling" to be done successfully.
First of all, they need to bring something new to the table, otherwise we're just saying/seeing what we've already seen. Avatar does this by taking us literally to a place we have never seen before, and having us all but physically interact with that world.
Second, the retelling needs to stay true to the original. Another way of putting this would be to say "give the people what they want."
**Spoilers Ahead**
I do not know about everyone else, but I know for a fact that I wanted to see the main character grow sympathy for the Na'vi, fall in love with the girl and join forces against the army. I wanted them to rise up into a massive counter attack. I WANTED all of Pandora to say "enough of this crap" and ram a charging beast right down the army's throat.
I believe everyone is free to like and dislike what they please, but I can not for the life of me understand why they would turn against something as artful as Avatar and reject it as being over-budgeted, predictable and preachy, when all it really wants to do is take us somewhere we can't go, and let us lose ourselves in it. If nothing else, I hold a great respect for people that were at least willing to give it a chance, even if it did not deliver what you wanted.
Regardless of how this will make me sound, this movie has helped me remember what it means to be human, and truly alive.
(And one final thing, yes it can get annoying hearing movies and people saying "Protect the Earth" and what not, but if so many people find it important enough to say, wouldn't that give it at least a little bit of validity?)
