Avatar (2009 film) the Rings" (literature). It was a tougher sell ..." The film received mostly positive reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 83% based on 301 reviews, with a rating average of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads "It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but "Avatar" reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking." On Metacritic — which assigns a weighted mean score — the film has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening
Avatar (2009 film) Weekly" attributed the film's success to 3D glasses, but also to its "astronomic word-of-mouth". Not only do some theaters charge up to $18.50 for IMAX tickets, but "the buzz" created by the new technology was the possible cause for sold-out screenings. Gray said "Avatar" having no basis in previously established material makes its performance remarkable and even more impressive. "The movie might be derivative of many movies in its story and themes," he said, "but it had no direct antecedent like the other top-grossing films: "Titanic" (historical events), the "Star Wars" movies (an established film franchise), or "The Lord of