Memo to Michael Bay: This is how you make a movie.

Avatar's simply one of the best movies I have ever seen. It had everything I could want. The plot made sense. It was simple -- I was thematically reminded of Dances with Wolves, a little, and a few anime movies -- but sometimes simple is good.  There were not a huge number of plot holes, and there wasn't even one point during the story where I went, "That ... didn't make sense."

The characters were vivid, real, and had fantastic chemistry with each other. They were characters I could engage with, believe in, that I found plausible and emotionally compelling.

The special effects left me breathless. Do note that this is a movie that needs to be seen in 3D, and IMAX if you can. Don't bother with 2D. The 3D is so good you might forget it's there, but it is truly what makes this movie. They created a fully photo-realistic alien world, with vistas and scenery that felt like it was straight out of National Geographic, then made aliens that were plausible and beautiful and moved like living creatures.

I forgot I was looking at CGI. I forgot I was watching a movie. I forgot about the 3D. For almost three hours, I just lost myself in the story. Complete and total suspension of disbelief. I want to go see it again.