Buckle your seat belts and enjoy the ride!

The story follows Jake, a paraplegic war veteran who becomes part of a 3 month project to relocate an indigenous race of humanoids known as the Na'vi from their spiritual forest realm on planet Pandora. Jake is biologically locked into a man-made Na'vi tribesman, who he can control in a waking-sleep from a remote location and instructed to work his way into the ancient civilisation's inner circle as a spy in order to glean valuable information on how to thwart the locals.

While the cast is comprised of a solid ensemble of actors, the CGI is Avatar’s star. Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) does a good job of playing the pure-hearted Jake, Zoe Saldana (Star Trek) conveys the emotional intensity of Neytiri, Giovanni Ribisi (The Gift) is convincing as the power-hungry, yet inept executive, Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil) slaps it on thick as the tough girl marine, Stephen Lang sizzles as the ultimate G.I. Joe tough guy and Sigourney Weaver plays a high-powered expert in a similar role to Gorillas in the Mist.

James Cameron has created a sprawling epic that combines classic fantasy, science fiction, western and mythological themes to give a rich, complex and multi-layered film. While Avatar seems original at first glance, it's influences run far and wide: Lord of the Rings, Dances with Wolves, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Dune, The Cell, God of War and even Smurfs!? The visual effects elevate the film's appeal and bolster a solid narrative, which plays with the real and unreal like The Cell. Avatar does exactly that... taking the crux of modern gaming to the next level by putting you in the picture. There are times when you feel like you should have a video game controller in your hands!

At 2 hours 41 minutes... it's a monster of a movie to rival Titanic for run time. Cameron has taken elements from his previous work and incorporated them along with some distinct influences from film favourites during his "hiatus". The performances are mixed with actors splitting their screen time with their alter-ego avatars. Avatar is definitely a step in the right direction with 3D and showcases CGI up to 2009 making it the blockbuster Roland Emmerich will always wish he had made.