That would be religion. On the whole, this has been absent from the apocalypse business, although it appears to be creeping in lately — the existence of the last remaining Bible is an integral part of the narrative in The Book of Eli. Legion goes further. We even hear what I assume was meant to be the sound of God — a massive reverberating foghorn in the sky. This is, in other words, the apocalypse not by environmental or viral means but, quite literally, by the Book. 

As such, it makes all the silliness oddly intriguing. The sheer nerve displayed by the director, Scott Stewart, in assuming we might take on board the very premise is admirable in an odd sort of way, even to an agnostic. And it certainly makes a refreshing change from having one's ear bent by movie characters telling us why we're simply terrible for not listening to warnings about climate change. 

Legion begins and ends with the same monologue, when one of the characters tries to explain why God has gone from loving to vengeful: "I don't know. Maybe He was just tired of all the bullshit." Which brings us neatly to Avatar. What is there to say about James Cameron's futuristic epic about the lovely Na'vi people of the planet Pandora and the nasty, grabbing humans who interfere with them which hasn't already been said? It's been seen by billions, has taken trillions at the box office and websites have been set up for the thousands who have apparently found it difficult to readjust to the real world after having been immersed in its 3-D-enhanced universe for two-and-a-half hours. I saw it in good old ordinary 2D, which laid bare the banality of the whole enterprise. Having ruined our own world, we're plundering others, so yes, it appeals to ingrained Western self-hate, and yes, it seemed pretty darned anti-American to me. The fact that this movie should sweep all before it says something depressing to me: that here we have the perfect epic for an infantile age. Even the much-praised look of it seemed child-like and, considering the amount of time and money expended on new technology, oddly old-fashioned. 

Over and above this, I kept thinking to myself, what the hell is the attraction of Pandora anyway? It looked like the sort of place in which any New Age disciple or self-proclaimed Citizen of the World would feel at home. It was full of inhabitants who were in thrall to mystical gods, spiritual energies and mass rituals. There were no good restaurants. I think I'd rather be in that diner.