i don't think I've ever seen a rabbid Fandom around it.
it was just an easy approachable pretty movie for the masses. with a massive budget and a very well known director it brought people in to see the best visuals hollywood sfx had at the time. that's basically how it was marketed, as a tech demo.
I've never once seen anyone fanboy about it. it sold well, but didn't excite many.
on three other hand, avatar the last air bender has a massive and rabid fandom.
don’t think I’ve ever seen a rabbid Fandom around it.
were you around when the movie was just released?
There was an insane weird fandom around it. From people just loving it to full on navi otherkin-ing. People getting depressed and suicidal to not live in that world. And I'm not talking about a handfull of people but quite a large group.
It was a pretty awesome experience to see in theaters at the time. The story was ass even then but the affects were amazing enough to carry it. My GF at the time and I went back twice to see it. Watching it on a regular screen these days it's completely forgettable.
It's the second highest grossing movie of all time, yet no one who has watched it can quote a single line from it, or recall the name of any character.
It's very true that "it was just Dances With Wolves in space," but Dances With Wolves is a good story. A good story + decent directing + pretty visuals = a movie that's at least decent, if not mind-blowing or whatever.
Avatar 2, on the other hand, definitely suffered story-wise.