Avatar, James Cameron, 163 mins, (PG)
James Cameron's extraordinary allegory of US adventurism in the Middle East inspires shock and awe but fails to win hearts and minds

Reviewed by Jonathan Romney
Sunday, 20 December 2009SHARE PRINTEMAILTEXT SIZE NORMALLARGEEXTRA LARGE
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James Cameron once declared himself king of the world. Now he has his eye on bigger things – he wants to rule the universe, the future and your brain.

His long-awaited Avatar is digital epic as attrition – you can't escape being overwhelmed by it, but it doesn't leave you much thinking space. I saw the film in 3D on a relatively small screen rather than in the colossal Imax format in which it's also being released. See it on that scale, and no doubt you'll feel totally engulfed by the experience, but even in a Soho Square basement, Avatar was immersive enough for me.

What I do feel overwhelmed by is the ocean of publicity telling us that Avatar is the ultimate this, the ultimate that, one of the most expensive films ever made (at a reported $230m or £143m – and you don't have to be a killjoy to find that obscene) and, most worrying, that it is the future of cinema.

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