Avatar 3D (2009) Director: James Cameron

I wanted to HATE Avatar. I know that's bad but from seeing visuals of the movie in the press, the film didn't really appeal to me. I thought it was going to be some silly mushy blue people eco love story. Which...it is...BUT...I wasn't prepared for actually how moving and incredible Avatar would be.

I think this is down to me watching it in 3D. 2D viewers have said it's really not very good. However, with 3D it's jaw-dropping and spectacular. You follow paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully (a believable Sam Worthington) as he takes part in a research programme to become an 'avatar' who will calm relations with a species called the Na'vi who live on a planet called Pandora. The US want to rape Pandora for its valuable mineral resources, the majority of which is located directly under the Na'vi's home - 'the hometree' - and want to use 'shock and awe' due to tensions between them and the inhabitants. The avatars are sent in to try and negotiate and persuade the Na'vi to move.

Jake becomes immersed in the ways of the Na'vi by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), daughter of the clan leader and a love story blossoms between them. Then the US unleash a 9/11 act onto the Na'vi and I wasn't quite prepared for how emotional I'd find this section...you have grown to love the Na'vi and all the funny little creatures that inhabit Pandora, to forget they are computer generated even, and they are then brutally attacked and killed by 'the baddies'. The end battle sequence when the Na'vi rise up and fight back is also extremely moving as we lose some key central characters. I also absolutely despised the 'baddie' and a movie must be good to make you hate someone so much, right?

The story has been done before in essence and it is also quite Disney in delivery, such as a key scene with the death of one of Neytiri's family, but it is captivating and if you let your mind go blank and wander with it, it's very enjoyable as a story. 3D definitely enhanced the experience for me; I have never seen anything like it and for that alone, James Cameron and his team deserve to win awards. From the moment you join Sully as he prepares to land on Pandora, you are literally transported into a different world. You feel part of Pandora...you are in awe as you encounter strange creatures who leap at you or float through the air like little ethereal jellyfish. The beauty of this for me was meeting these new animals and not quite knowing what was around the corner, it's a journey for the viewer and whether you're jumping off a cliff with Sully on his 'pet dragon' or visiting the wonderful floating mountains, it's breath-taking stuff. The detail was incredible; as you walk through the forest with Sully, little flies buzz out of the screen at you...I don't think 2D would pick this up.

You just have to see it in 3D and lose yourself for over 2 hours - the time flies very quickly as opposed to my last review for The Black Dahlia where I was just waiting for the movie to end. This is ground-breaking film-making and I don't want to go back to watching films in 2D now!