I watched the movie expecting bad acting, cheesy dialogue, a reused script (think Dances with Wolves), but with visuals that make up for the former. It turns out that the dialogue was cheesy and the script was predictable and borrowed, but the acting was genuine (the aud. can become emotionally connected not only to the main characters but to the entire foreign world of Pandora) and yes, the visuals did not disappoint. Cameron's success: he spent budget well on state-of-the-art tech. to portray Pandora and its natives in a matter which would emerge the aud. Many times I forgot I was watching CGI (the long runtime also helped). Avatar is a fun, traditional blockbuster that should be seen in 3D with friends and a plethora of snacks.