What the hell did anyone really like about Avatar?

Two-and-a-half plus hours of giant Smurfs frolicking in a cartoon forest is not my idea of entertainment. How this dreadful mess of a movie became the most successful in history is a mystery that reduces the JFK assassination to the level of a Murder She Wrote episode. Obviously technology is at the core of its success, but it wasn't that special. Nothing in this mega-budget monstrosity can top the speargun in Friday the 13th Part 3. James Cameron was so preoccupied with depth of field he neglected to add a little depth of intelligence. The plot has been called simplistic, but I think dimwitted would be more apt. Was anyone else rooting for the marines? On the plus side Avatar does offer the most spectacular battle with a tree ever "filmed".  I never thought I would say this, but I prefer Titanic, and I hate Titanic. The Terminator remains Cameron's one great cinematic achievement. I predict he will never top it.