10 Reasons You're Wrong About Avatar

10. It's More Than "Dances With Wolves In Space"

Both before and after its release, Avatar was mocked as being nothing more than "Dances with Wolves in space", "Pocahontas in space" or even "Ferngully in Space", with many criticising Cameron's script for being overly derivative of "white saviour" movies in particular.

Though few would champion Avatar's plot as wildly original, this is a rather reductive assessment of the movie's narrative.

Yes, it's not particularly unique, but given the staggering complexity of the world Cameron has created, utilising a common, elemental series of tropes is actually a pretty smart way to keep things grounded.

After all, aren't the majority of the most successful movies ultimately just rehashing classic good vs. evil and "chosen one" stories? And does that really matter as long as it's well-executed?

Moreover, while Avatar's spinal story is typical, the surrounding elements are anything but: the sci-fi genre twist, the central trans-human premise and the sheer weight of the world itself.

Many understandably assumed that Avatar would bomb at the box office for being "too weird", but honestly, keeping the core plot simple and easily digestible to a huge international audience is probably why it turned out so successful.

And given the sheer mind-boggling number of moving parts in this movie, an overly complex story could've made it too exhausting for its own good.