They told us not to keep the 3D glasses. We kept the 3D glasses. We wanted to see Earth as we saw Pandora, in 3D. Pandora is the forested planet in James Cameron’s new epic Avatar. After a 12-year hiatus from feature films, Cameron delivers a grand visual journey with breakthrough special effects technology that tells a classic story of love and betrayal.

The film, set in the year 2154, follows a young paraplegic Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) to the dazzling planet of Pandora. Human colonists there are desperate to remove the indigenous blue humanoid species called the Na’vi from land rich with a highly sought-after mineral. Sully is introduced to the Avatar program, which allows humans to take control over their own specifically created Na’vi bodies called Avatars. The program makes it possible for humans to venture deep into Pandora in order to study and understand the Na’vi. A super buff old dude, Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), assigns Sully a side mission to gain the respect of the Na’vi and convince them to move from their land in return for the operation that will let Sully walk again. Sully, after experiencing the Na’vi culture, identifies with the half-naked blue aliens more than he thought he would and his inner conflicts lead to all out war between the Na’vi and the Earth’s military.

Similar to the unlikely relationship that formed between Pocahontas and that white guy, Sully falls in love with Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), the daughter of the elder Na’vi tribal leader. The story is simple and corny at parts, but this only adds to Avatar’s old school movie magic that many modern films lack. Avatar viewers are literally put right into the world of Pandora thanks to the Fusion Camera system, which Cameron co-invented, that mimics human sight. Instead of sitting in front of the characters, it felt like we were standing with them.

This film was hyped for its visual achievements and computer graphics, but Cameron uses technology that usually deals only with the surface of film to make Avatar’s emotional core richer. By existing side by side with the characters in their own environment, we connect with them on a deeper level than our own families. As Sully falls in love with the alluring Neytiri and the lush forests and angelic floating mountains of Pandora, we fall in love along with him. Walking out of the theater, in our minds blue Na’vi had replaced all human ethnicities as the most attractive race. We’re currently awaiting Neytiri’s first Victoria’s Secret commercial appearance.

Some of the human characters, like the aforementioned badass Colonel Quaritch, who can be seen pumping iron within the first few minutes of the movie, contrast strongly with the more humble and communal Na’vi characters. Yet, because of the constant focus on Sully’s progress with the different species, the other human characters, such as the scientist played by Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi’s corporate tycoon, are not fully developed. The scenes centered on the humans are not as strong as the rest of the film, and we aren’t given as much back-story on what has led humans to otherworldly colonization. Though the story as a whole is compelling, after Sully has discovered much about Pandora and the Na’vi the events in the second half of the film are often disappointingly predictable. Because the film is so visually striking, the story can seem frail in comparison.

With the rise of big screen TVs, Hollywood has been struggling with a solution to get people back into movie theaters, and Avatar was meant to change that. Avatar has set new standards for sci-fi movies. But for a lot of films, 3D isn’t necessary — the classic Casablanca, for example, would look a lot cooler in 3D, but it doesn’t need it to be great. Avatar signals a new type of movie, but it doesn’t show us what all movies should be like in 50 years. Hopefully Hollywood realizes that what we need isn’t for all films to be epics about blue people in 3D — what we need is more filmmakers as visionary and as talented as James Cameron.