The movie is a visual treat no doubt and has (obviously) the best graphics in cinema till date. Also has its own share of love story masala, environment conservation preachings and cliched dialogues. For me what worked was (again obviously) the Special Effects and also the 'human touch'. You almost seem to relate with the Blue creatures. What din't work for me was the sluggish pace in the first half and too much detailing, which was more like a distraction. Also, may be i expected too much from the movie especially after all the hype with the budget and almost a decade in planning.
"The problem with research is that it takes too much time". That exactly was the problem with the movie. If reports are to be considered true, then the movie took almost a decade to reach theaters and all the sci-fi and CGI stuff which was supposed to be 'pioneer' in the new age cinema was already (almost) matched up before Avatar could even release. No doubt its absolutely stunning. But just about manages to live up to the hype, which for me is not good enough when there are no seats available for any shows at the weekend.
Plot: The movie revolves around the human mining for a material called 'un-obtain-ium' (Yes, the cliches start here) on a planet (or a moon) called pandora. In order to get unobtainium, humans need to destroy a tree and throw out the 10 foot tall blue inhabitants (Na'avis) of the planet, who are not going to do because of their 'spiritual' association with the tree. The person who was supposed to convince the inhabitants falls in love with the tribal leader's daughter and switches sides. And (predictably) the fight of Good vs Evil takes place and you (obviously) know the end result. Simple and Straightforward.
Performances: Well, I dint go to watch any oscar performances and was not disappointed. But yes, Zoe saldana was pretty decent.
Technicals: Well (at the cost of being repetitive), the CGI graphics are absolutely amazing and almost real life especially when it comes to the Na'avis. Their expressions are captured phenomenally life like. But i would like to provide a caveat here. It gets kinda video gamish towards the end. The color pallette is so vivid that you might want to watch it in 2D since the 3D version makes it too dark to enjoy.
Positives: Graphics.. Graphics.. Graphics.. A bit of emotional connect too.
Negatives: Cliched dialogues. Too many expectations. Slow first half
Overall: You HAVE TO watch it, atleast once just for the graphics and realize where movie making has reached. Its not a movie but an experience.
Feel-O-Meter: 7/10
PS: I guess, the movie also is a take on America's foreign policy too. Just like their war on terror towards Iraq (for the oil). Just a thought!! ;-)