We've been awared of the hype.

We knew the budget James Cameron got to produce this mega buster. We also were told about the new technology that was deployed, which supposedly will take Avatar to a new frontier, to a realm all by itself.

But learning from past mistakes, we ignored all that. Just bought the ticket, went in to see Avatar just as we'd see any other movie in the theater. No great expectation, no outrageous demand... because James Cameeron spent zillion bucks to make this movie.

The specal effects is not as out-of-this-world as it was hyped up to be, as far as replacing real actors or being realistic is concerned. But as an animation, it delivered.

Like many anmiations and comics being released lately, the genre could be deceiving. This movie was not just catered for kids. Even though we doubted that it could break the billion dollars mark at the Box Office without the approval of many many children who would flock to fill up theaters all over the world again and again.

Besides all the hoopla, unlimitted visual special efects, SGI could draw up, at the end, it was the story telling, the plot, the characters and the messages that makes or breaks a movie. We guess Avatar had a story to tell. The characters were well liked. And its message wasn't all that bad either.

Century Fox 21 may have gambled with the new characters they created just for Avatar, to be interacting with seasoned actors like Sigourney Weaver in the movie. Children must have adored and rooted for the creaters in this fantasy land as they followed the almost-non-stop action-romance science fiction tale, with all its twists and turns. But there was also a heavier political message laying underneath, which could even be considered a propaganda by some. But if you're not into politics, or social activism, you might not even notice.

So, just go enjoy the movie. It'll be money well spent and an experience you wouldn't regret.

Here's how good it's done over the Christmas weekend:

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By Scott Bowles
USA TODAY

The new year began at the movies the way the old one ended: with James Cameron ruling the box office.

The director's sci-fi opus Avatar remained on top for the third straight weekend, raking in $68.3 million, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI.

The $300 million film distributed by 20th Century Fox has crossed the $1 billion mark, earning $352.1 million domestically and $670.2 million overseas.

The question now is how high Avatar flies. The picture dropped a minuscule 9% from last weekend and still won the box-office derby by $30 million.

The movie is tracking similarly to Cameron's last film, Titanic, which was No. 1 for 16 straight weeks and became the highest-grossing film of all time, domestically, at $600 million.

And though few people expect Cameron's new film to eclipse his old — movie schedules are typically too full now to see a movie at No. 1 for more than a month —Avatar already is marching its way into the record books. It propelled Christmas weekend to its highest grosses on record, and last week the film became the third-fastest film to hit $300 million, behind only The Dark Knight and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Most films enjoyed only minor drop-offs from last weekend as the holidays kept people in theaters.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes fell a respectable 38% to do $38.4 million and $140.7 million overall.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel fared even better, dropping just 25% for third place and $36.6 million.

The Meryl Streep comedy It's Complicated was fourth with $18.7 million, followed by Sandra Bullock's The Blind Side, which followed with $12.7 million.

Thanks to Avatar and Holmes' strong holds, ticket sales were up 70% over the same weekend last year.

Final figures are due Monday.