>>212864087 (OP)
It deserved more. People always shit on the story but it has a number of pleasing resonances if you're paying attention.
-Jake's costume changes in every. single. scene. This shows a steady progression from human to Na'vi, which is fully completed at the film's conclusion. In Na'vi/Avatar form, he starts out naked, then in hospital gown, then in human-style fatigues. He very quickly loses most of those, then in every scene he gets a bit more face paint, a bit more bling until he becomes Big Dick Indian Chief. Added in with this is a simple timing cue that (human) Jake has been out in the woods for several weeks. He has to shave off a beard before he "goes back to work" to talk with Quaritch.
-Neytiri and the dragon/ikran are alike. As Neytiri advises him, it will be a match when a certain dragon will "try to kill you". The very first thing that Neytiri does with Jake is to attempt to kill him, but she relents due to plot armor. In each case, Jake and the ikran/Neytiri "choose" each other. This free-choice langauge, conventionally acceptable romance, is underlined when they consummate.
-Jake's tactical know-how is shown when he has Max hang back inside the base; he realizes that he needs an inside man for intel. This is validated a short time later when Max passes off the time-critical information that the bomb run will start in the morning. If Jake hadn't set Max as his mole, the bomb run would have retained at least some degree of surprise, and would probably have been successful. Story aside, the battle itself is just absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, while we're at it. One of the most visually beautiful things I've ever seen on a movie screen. Very colorful. The hero on his red steed (the sole patch of red on-screen so we always know where the hero is in phase 1), the grey and light green of the mountains, the dark green camo of the human craft, then the pallette gets darker as the fight concludes on the forest floor.
