Any popular movie will ultimately become divisive to some degree. It is an unwritten law of cinema that has dependably never been broken; you don't have to travel far to find people who say The Dark Knight or The Avengers (or any popular new release) "isn't as good as people say". Who's ready to start wailing on Guardians Of The Galaxy? Naturally, the film this would hurt the most would be the biggest movie of all time; ike Titanic before it, which held the title of highest grossing film ever for twelve years previously, Avatar's phenomenal success swiftly led to a spate of detractors. The film was initially well received, with movie fans delighted to see James Cameron back behind the camera, but when it went from being a fun movie to "best evah" the divide was created. As with Titanic, many of the enduring criticisms (it's FernGully in space, Dance With Smurfs, Pandorahontas etc.) were present before the film was released, repurposed as damning complaints against its insurmountable popularity. In general though, it's not too much a condemning of the film overall, more the intensity with which the mainstream adored it.
