20th Century Fox

Sam Worthington stars as Jake.

"Avatar" is definitely a visual spectacular. What else would you expect from the guy who made "Titanic"?

But James Cameron, who proclaimed himself "King of the World" during his "Titanic" Oscar win, is also the king of the Hollywood cliche.

This is Cameron's message movie and his message is a worthy one. He indicts imperialism and the exploitation of indigenous people. And he does it with a lot of razzle and dazzle. He pulls the trigger on the displacement of Native Americans, the Vietnam War and even America's involvement in Iraq.

The action is set on the planet of Pandora, a place where primitive blue people with tails live in an idyllic rain forest that looks like it was designed by Tinkerbell. They're called the Na'vi and they're living on top of a rare mineral called obtainium. A military contractor wants to get rid of the natives and if they won't move, they'll be destroyed.

Enter Jake (Sam Worthington), a disabled Marine who lost the use of his legs. Some fancy script maneuvering puts Jake on Pandora as part of an experiment. A bunch of scientists want to use Jake's brain to operate a Na'vi clone. He goes to sleep human and wakes up as one of the creatures. The object is to win the hearts and minds of the natives.

Meanwhile, an evil commander wants to use Jake as a spy. Played by Stephen Lang, he's a one-dimensional villain but just about all the characters are one dimensional. They include Sigourney Weaver as Grace, a maternal scientist, Joel David Moore as a nerdy scientist and Michelle Rodriguez as a spunky helicopter pilot.

Meanwhile, Jake takes to his hosts and falls in love with Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana. Of course, he decides to go native and winds up leading his adopted people in battle.

There's not a plot point you can't see coming from miles away. But the predictability is kind of comforting. It's like watching an old movie all dressed up in new clothes.

However, Cameron may have gone too far in depicting his indigenous people like Native Americans in old westerns. He may mean to be politically correct in his message but he may have gone too old Hollywood in imagining his native characters.

Ultimately, though, the Na'vi are at one with their environment and the so-called civilized people only want to rampage and pillage. The creed of greed and might-makes-right are pitted against one of harmony in nature.

Cameron delivers a menagerie of wonderful and weird creatures that soar through the screen in 3D. The cost of the movie has been estimated between $200 million and $300 million. Despite the eye-popping colors, the movie's ideas are all black and white.

It may be the most expensive B-movie ever made.