The movie, in this case, is “Avatar,” a sci-fi epic from director James Cameron. “Avatar: The Game” is not a horrific game — being horrific actually might have helped it. Instead, it perfectly mixes ambition and poor execution to become simply mediocre.

Even when the game is at its best, it manages to be a forgettable third-person shooter. The premise is relatively simple — you can either play as the RDA or the alien Na’vi — and this is an in-game choice. Fifteen minutes into gameplay you are asked to decide which race you would rather side with.

In terms of the actual story, it isn’t particularly compelling. Do you want to be a 10-foot alien or a human hell-bent on exploiting the alien planet Pandora?

The game is easier as a human, but the artificial intelligence is terrible no matter which race you choose.

From there on out it’s nothing but collecting things for characters and killing anything that gets in your way.

However, “Avatar: The Game” has a decent combat system that integrates special fighting skills — speed burst, berserker modes, etc. — with upgradable weapons. Like everything else in the game, it does the bare minimum. The weapons upgrade themselves and automatically fill each slot. There isn’t much strategy involved in choosing weaponry. You just pick the instrument of destruction and use it to kill.

The actual fighting controls are good, if a little loose at times, and the camera angles are very helpful during the hectic skirmishes you will find yourself in time and time again.

And that’s pretty much it for the gameplay, seeing as there are no side missions to change the pace of the story.

There is a mode called conquest where you can capture and hold areas of the planet via a turn-based strategy game. Similar to a futuristic 3-D Risk, it barely is integrated into the overall game. And in the interest of not leaving anything out, the multiplayer isn’t anything special. Just skip it.

One place where the game attempts to shine is in the graphics department. Pandora is a jungle planet populated with fauna and floral completely different from anything we earthlings have ever seen — at least that’s what you’re told.

The game doesn’t give you any opportunities to explore the environment. This is a shame because, for the most part, your surroundings look great. The psycho plants were threatening, the floating rocks and jungle atmosphere were solid and I wanted to see more, but you don’t have time to enjoy them because it’s always on to the next mission.

In general, “Avatar: The Game” gets old faster than the four hours it will take you to beat it.

The experience is best summed up by my 50-something father: “So, basically, this is a game where some guy tells you what to do over and over again?”

That’s exactly what it is, Dad. Look for it in the bargain bin next month.