I'm off to Pandora (that is what it's called, right, Pandora?)

After months of talk and hype James Cameron's return to commercial cinema after a 12-year break, the mega-budget fantasy "Avatar", is unveiled to the worldwide masses tonight at 12:01 am. I'll be heading over to see it at a screening in Boston at 7pm tonight and will post my .02 (for what that is worth) afterwards.

The reviews have, for the most part, been positive thus far. Most have noted that the story and characters aren't exactly up to snuff, but the pre-release press is largely unified in one respect: it's a visual knockout and on a visceral level, a pretty awesome theatrical experience thanks to the 3-D technique used throughout.

I have to say that despite the negative things I have heard, I'm kind of excited to see the film and experience the 3-D effect in completed form. The 15 minutes or so of footage that I saw back in August didn't exactly wow me. The 3-D effects were decent, but the visual effects were rough and from what I could detect from the footage shown, this was going to be "Dances With Wolves" in deep space. Those feelings aside, I am more than willing to go in fresh and wiht an open mind (yes folks, it does occasionally happen). Let's face facts: the first two "Terminator" films and 1986's "Aliens" aside, James Cameron's films have never been known for their great plots, characters or dialogue. They have been known for their spectacle, which is where my appreciation is for "True Lies", "The Abyss" and "Titanic" (okay, Kate Winslet's drawing room scene kicked all sorts of ass as well). We'll see tonight which Cameron club "Avatar" joins.