James Cameron's Avatar has cleared its first hurdle: critics adore it. Near-unanimous praise was the reaction out of the film's world premiere in London last night, with words like "overwhelming" and "transcendent" and "jaw-dropping" being used to describe the 3D epic. But the word that's been used the most leading up to the film's release was "game-changer." Could the movie -- as most involved with its production claimed it could -- change movies the way the advents of sound and color had done previously? Now that the first wave of reactions are in, the verdict is, surprisingly, it kind of can ... if you see it in 3D.

Something to keep in mind before reading the excerpts below. James Cameron built Avatar as a fully immersive 3D experience, but much to his chagrin I'm sure, most theaters can't screen movies in three dimensions. And Fox doesn't care if audiences are seeing Avatar the way its maker intended -- they want their money back, which means showing it on as many movie screens as possible, including "regular" ones. The raves below come from a 3D screening, and would no doubt be less enthusiastic about the film's revolutionary aspect had it been a flat screening. Having said that, I officially cannot wait to see this movie.

Variety: "Cameron & Co.'s years of R&D paying off with a film that, as his work has done before, raises the technical bar and throws down a challenge for the many other filmmakers toiling in the sci-fi/fantasy realm."

London Evening Standard: "James Cameron’s dazzling, exhilarating, 3D sci-fi epic Avatar represents a dramatic leap in film technology ... As a friend said on leaving: 'You’ll never want to watch 2D again.'"

Empire: "Is it a game-changer? Yes, and no would be the cop-out answer, but it’s also the truth. Avatar employs technology necessary to render its largely computer-generated, 3D world that will give directors, including but not limited to Cameron, one heck of a sandbox to play in over the next few years. That’s how the game has changed off screen ... no director to date has built a world of this scale, ambition and complexity before, and Avatar will have rival directors scrambling to keep up with Cameron."

The Independent: "What Avatar does mark is a new breed. A new breed of action film, a new hero in Sam Worthington (who delivers a much more believable, and compelling performance than previous outings) and a new cinematic experience."

The Sun: "It's a 3D movie people will look back on in years to come to comment on how it transformed cinema. In recent 3D releases such as Beowulf, the effects were impressive but the computer-generated humans looked far from real. In Avatar, everything feels real - and it's as if you are immersed in the action."

Movieline: "It will influence technicians for generations."