Avatar (2009 film) Dean sought damages of $50m. Dean's case was dismissed in 2014, and "The Hollywood Reporter" noted that Cameron has won multiple "Avatar" idea theft cases. "Avatar" received compliments from filmmakers, with Steven Spielberg praising it as "the most evocative and amazing science-fiction movie since "Star Wars"" and others calling it "audacious and awe inspiring", "master class", and "brilliant". Noted art director-turned-filmmaker Roger Christian is also a noted fan of the film. On the other hand, Duncan Jones said: "It's not in my top three James Cameron films. ... [A]t what point in the film did you have any doubt what
Avatar (2009 film) New York Times" opined that the film is "Cameron's long apologia for pantheism [...] Hollywood's religion of choice for a generation now", while Saritha Prabhu of "The Tennessean" called the film a "misportrayal of pantheism and Eastern spirituality in general", and Maxim Osipov of "The Hindustan Times", on the contrary, commended the film's message for its overall consistency with the teachings of Hinduism in the "Bhagavad Gita". Annalee Newitz of io9 concluded that "Avatar" is another film that has the recurring "fantasy about race" whereby "some white guy" becomes the "most awesome" member of a non-white culture. Michael Phillips of