In my experience, people either like or hate a film, song, food, person, etc, and figure out why later.I thought it succeeded on all four fronts. It's a simple story. I think Cameron would be the first to admit that.Yeah, I don't get it. It's like taking somebody to get a great burger at the beach, the person taking a bite and saying "it sucks compared to El Bulli in Spain." This movie is clearly not an exercise in cinematic existentialism, although the whole notion of avatars could be fuel for thought in terms of what constitutes a person, the soul, dualism (philosophy of mind sort), etc.
When 40 year old men say, at length and passionately, even angrily, that they hate music for 10 year old girls, I have a hard time believing somebody can be so clueless. Of coures you don't like Selena Gomez, you dolt. Who composed better music, The Beatles or Bach? Who is a better jazz pianist, Monk or Tatum? Not everything fits perfectly into your little circles and squares. Everything can't be determined by your little list. Stormo is right...Sure, it's valid to dislike Avatar. If you weren't entertained, than you weren't entertained, and there's no disputing that. But the reasons being given for disliking it are IMO bizarre. Story was predictable? Some of my favorite movies were predictable. It's like music, some songs you can hum along to the first time you hear it, it's like you've heard it your whole life. People can also be like this, they are instantly "familiar." The Avatar story is as old as time. So yeah, it's predictable, we all knew the "good guys" would win. And that goes for almost every movie I've ever seen. How is Avatar different in this regard? It's not. I know Indiana Jones is going to survive and accomplish his mission, even if only inadvertently, and the list of movies where I know the good guy will survive and succeed is pretty indistinguishable from the list of every movie ever made.
It's all about execution. Cameron was going for emotion and visual impact. Other people go for twists and turns, and that's fine. This movie wasn't about that. If somebody makes you a great sandwich, don't lament that it's not French Laundry. Put everything in its proper context and understand that all movies or art don't share the same objective. If you like movies with ambiguous morals, unpredictable characters, non-linear structures, and unusual themes, that's cool. I do, too, sometimes. Sometimes I like the world's most peet heavy whiskey, and sometimes I want Coors Lite. Sometimes I like a fancy dinner, and sometimes I love a simple sandwich. Sometimes I'm amazed by my 3 year old nephews vocabulary even though Salman Rushdie could talk circles around him. Damn, put things into context, dudes!!!!
I don't see how people can't praise this movie if for no other reason than how magical it looked. I wasn't a huge fan of Lawrence of Arabia but I can admit it looked fantastic. That was enough for me. Anyway.