Action cinema has a reputation for narrative paucity, for giving spectators all action and no plot, a reputation that seems to have gained further traction with the increasingly ubiquitous and frequently exhibitionist use of digital effects in action sequences. The action fantasy Avatar (directed by James Cameron) was released at the end of 2009 to great fanfare, promising a spectacular display of ground-breaking digital 3D and motion capture technologies. However, those same qualities made it vulnerable to the criticism of ‘too much’ spectacle in certain quarters of the media. David Cox's on-line article for the British newspaper The Guardian, published three days after the film's UK theatrical release, is unrelentingly dismissive of the film. Calling it ‘mere spectacle’, the journalist blames Avatar's spectacular nature for what he sees as its lack of narrative engagement. For Cox, the narrative is not just outdated but almost completely absent, a situation he suggests is caused by an assumption by studio executives and filmmakers that audiences are no longer interested in the subtleties of characterisation and narrative motivation (‘motive, thought and feeling’).