As the familiar theme of 20th Century Fox began to play, I had the same tingling sense of anticipation as I did many years ago as a kid when I went to my first Star Wars movie in the theaters, Return of the Jedi. As a kid, I was anticipating seeing something totally wondrous and completely awesome. I was expecting to be swept away to a galaxy far, far away by being immersed in the fantasy universe George Lucas had created. As an adult and a film critic, I found it strange that I was experiencing a similar sensation at the start of Avatar, a film that I didn't really have any sort of affinity for in the way I did for Star Wars as a kid. However, Avatar was able to recapture some of those feelings I had as a kid as it took me to a new world and on a fun (if familiar) adventure. When I left I may not have felt quite as swept away as I did as kid seeing Star Wars, but I did have fun, I was thrilled, and it was a unique cinematic experience. In short, Avatar is a success and a pretty darn good movie (sorry to those of you hoping that James Cameron would experience an epic fail with this movie; he doesn't).

Avatar is a very familiar story, but just because a movie covers well-trodden ground doesn't mean it can't be good. Despite telling a very familiar tale, Cameron does so with such expertise and confidence that he's able to hold your interest despite the fact you know exactly what's going to happen and pretty much when it's going to happen. This is a good old-fashioned western... with modern, civilized society clashing with the more spiritual, noble, low-tech world of an indigenous people. This is the story of John Smith and Pocahontas, or of Dances With Wolves but with flying dragon-like creatures, space ships, and robotic suits. Avatar hits all the familiar beats of a classic Cowboys and Indians story while putting it in an entirely unique setting. Because the story is so familiar there aren't really any surprises, but it's all crafted so well that it's still a whole lot of fun.

As I was watching Avatar, and perhaps it's because it was a different setting for this story, a couple of things jumped out at me. One was the fact that people long, indeed are desperate, for spiritual connection. As our hero Jake Sully learns the "backwards" ways of the Na'vi, he discovers a connection to a spiritual world that he never knew he wanted but realized he always desired. He falls in love with the Na'vi's ability to be in tune with nature and their surroundings and with Eywa, their great deity. It's been well said that we all have a God-shaped hole in our soul, a deep yearning for spiritual connection. This is an inescapable truth, but one we have trouble fulfilling.

The other thing that jumped out at me was the fact that we're willing to look for a solution for that desire in just about any place except the one place where we can truly find it. The idea of the noble savage being in tune with nature and spiritual world is nothing new; indeed it's one more familiar part of a very familiar story in Avatar, and in truth it's a part of history. However, this concept seems far more acceptable than the idea of finding spiritual fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible. Indeed, the fact that the Na'vi are one with nature and have a connection (a quite literal one, in fact) with their deity Eywa is presented as a very profound element of the movie. It shows the depth and righteousness of the Na'vi and the shallow depravity of the Sky People, the Earthlings. Now I ask you, what would have happened if it had even been suggested that the deity the Na'vi worshiped was the same as the God of the Bible? Instead of profound it would be ridiculous. Instead of spiritual it would have been proselytizing. In short, it would not have been accepted as a "serious" part of the story.

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