Well, Avatar was really well-done 3D honestly... kind of an "experience" when I saw the movie in the theater, and that was the primary reason I went, I wanted that immersive experience and I got it.
But it didn't add a ton to the genre convention. Probably "The Last Samurai" for me was the best tale of that cloth that I've seen, out of the 5-6 movies I can recall right now that had the same plotline; and even that was historically off a bit since the samurai weren't necessarily all noble historically but also wanted to retain power. Still, at least that version had some meaning and context. Avatar still remains a popcorn-muncher.
I thought Cameron's "The Abyss" (extended cut) was really good, it might be my favorite of all his movies in terms of the character depth. (And he tried to provide a bit of depth in the extended cut of T2, with the inclusion of Dyson and a learning Terminator, and contrasting its progression towards humanity with Sarah as a human becoming a terminator). It's unfortunate his biggest (and most recent) movies have suffered story-wise. Not that they might not be enjoyable on a casual level, but not as enduring as they could have been.
Yes, but Christopher Nolan also makes blockbusters, and they manage to not be dull. Interstellar was a much better movie than Avatar. Same for Ridley Scott... his movies are sometimes flawed, and sometimes awkwardly incorporate modern ideas into historical settings where they really didn't exist, but they're always interesting to watch. I found Prometheus more enjoyable than Avatar, too.
Gawd. It hurts to hear you say that, because Prometheus was edited to death unfortunately and came into the world missing some limbs, but... probably. Yes. And damn, it was a beautiful movie -- not in the way Avatar was, but just in a more transcendent way like when David is in the star sphere. And the whole opening scene with the Engineers. It definitely aspired to more; I'll give Scott that. Just wish they would put back in the 20 minutes or so they cut out, which really gutted the movie dramatically and rationally.