This is true. Some elements of JC Avatar were super interesting and detailed. Like the spaceship, that was *ridiculously well-thought-out for such a brief appearance, and no telling how much time was spent on the fauna.

But... they made the overarching story and characters so unremarkable.

I felt something similar watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Talokan (the underwater city) was breathtaking and incredible, no telling how much labor was put into it... only for that gorgeous setting to be used for a brief swim through and never seen again.

You just reminded me of this video again, that explains how unfortunately the world building that went into the music didn't make it to the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL5sX8VmvB8

See, I'm baffled by this one, now I've only seen the first movie so maybe there's something in the second I don't know about in world building. But the first, the world building was to me... meh? Okay, the alien planet was interesting, they have a culture, they seemed to do a fine job with that, cool. But the story makes humanity so blitheringly stupid that I cannot comprehend the worldbuilding beyond "We need some Captain Planet level villains." They're after unobtanium, a mineral that has properties for anti-gravity and wrecking havok on radar. Soooooo.... We're going to work hard on inserting someone to convince the locals to dig up under the religious tree for the major vein of it instead of the MULTIPLE floating mountains all over the place.

Which then when the military decides to do its thing, this spacefaring species uses glorified helicopters that fly lower and slower than modern military aircraft, again through the mountains of unobtainium in a low altitude approach for a strike operation that only makes sense if the enemy has radar... which the aliens definitely did not. I seriously might have missed something but I couldn't get past humanity in it was just carrying the idiot ball throughout the movie.

This is true, I remember it being lauded in theaters.

I mean, I guess not everyone is media savvy and the story could have felt "new" to some, but there wasn't a character that stood out or anything, no cast stealing the show...

I remember one critic called it “Dances with Smurfs”

I don't know why everyone jumps to Dances With Wolves. It's clearly Pocahontas.

But the original Jurassic Park was fun. The writing was sharp and memorable, the cast charismatic, even if the plot is not that important (which is fine).

I did love JC Avatar's alien flora and fauna, and some small details like the realistic spaceship, but I guess it feels much less exciting in hindsight without anything to "attach" it to.

And again... the IP its name collides with is nothing to sneeze at, visually. You can pause it almost anywhere, even in "mundane" scenes, and get gorgeous fantasy shots and incredible music:

The funny thing is James Cameron acts like the movie and message are so profound.

Avatar the Last Airbender, and the Legend of Korra.

The animation, specifically. The Netflix series is OK, and there is absolutely no movie adaptation.

Funny enough, I watched them when I was like 19, but Korra, Zuko and Iroh are still three of my favorite characters in anything ever. I remember it vividly, where I can't remember a single line from the James Cameron Avatar (which I watched as a teen when it came out).