Avatar

I know, I know - now I'm really showing how far behind we are...yes, we just watched Avatar. I had no desire to see it in the theater - and (hangs head in shame) I've had the DVD from Netflix since July.

I don't know why I was so reluctant to watch it. I wasn't thrilled by the trailers - I have no special desire to see any of the actors that were in it - so I guess I just didn't want to invest 3 hours of my time. It's like Star Wars meets FernGully meets Robocop...sort of...

If you don't know what it's about: Humans are on the planet of Pandora - some want to mine unobtanium (a valuable mineral), no matter the cost to the planet or it's natives - and some want to study the planet & it's natives in order to learn more about them. The natives don't trust the humans, so scientists took human DNA & native DNA and made "avatars" that look like natives, but are controlled by the humans' consciousness. Sam Worthington plays a paraplegic Marine who takes his brother's place in the mission - and as his avatar, he can walk. Of course, he originally infiltrates a tribe to try to get them to move without a war (so the humans can mine beneath their home), but he falls in love and eventually wants to stay & help the Na'vi. Lots of action, lots of cool scenes.

I actually liked it! It held my interest for the entire 3 hours. Gus even managed to stay awake for the whole thing (that's quite a feat - trust me). I'm sorry I waited so long to watch it. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. I won't wait so long to watch the second one when it comes out.  :-)