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Movie Monday: Avatar

James Cameron’s Avatar cruised to a strong start over the weekend, topping the box office with $73 million. Granted, the take was on the low end of the studio’s expectations, but considering much of the East Coast was hammered by a massive snowstorm, Cameron and crew are probably pretty happy this morning. In addition, the CGI-laden environmental fable has already made more than $230 million worldwide.

The film hasn’t gotten my eight bucks yet, though. Like you, I like to check out Plugged In before I run to the theater. And Adam’s review gave me pause: As visually appealing as the thing is, do I want to wade through all the peripheral stuff? The spirituality? The arguably anti-American subtext? The mostly naked aliens? Frankly, I got my fill of blue-tinged nudity in Watchmen.

Hey, I like CGI extravagance as much as the next guy, but right now, this film feels like something I should see (for my job), not something I want to see (just for fun). So maybe I’ll toss it out to y’all. For those of you who saw Avatar, did Cameron, as Adam suggest, out-Lucas (Star Wars creator George) Lucas? Did you walk away dabbing your eyes, gnashing your teeth or simply saying, “hmmmm … interesting”?

Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.