So, this is an odd one. "Aliens of the Deep" is clearly designed to be viewed on an IMAX screen - which, of course, I wasn't. I was watching it on my TV via Disney Plus. So , visually it's not as impressive as old James Cameron intended - but as a documentary, how is it? Too long, and only interesting about half the time.

Veteran film director James Cameron continues his obsession with all things deep sea by arranging an expedition, to the hydrothermal vents and investigate the life that thrives in such toxic and inhospitable environments. Accompanying the marine biologists are a team of NASA scientists eager to learn what they can about the technology needed to explore similarly difficult terrain in Space.

When I say it's interesting half the time, I mean it's interesting when it's showing their actual discoveries. The vents have their own ecosystems linked to the heat generated by the superheated water, shrimp and crab like creatures exist in large numbers and tube worms mix around the deep sea submersibles. They experiment with taking samples of rocks and with how close they can get to the vents.

It's less interesting when it's using CGI to imagine creatures during fantasies about what it might be like to explore the seas of another planet. I guess the idea is that it's supposed to fire your imagination, but for me it was mostly padding what was already a slow-moving experience. It doesn't spend anything like enough time doing the actual interesting thing it does, showing you the actual creatures that live in these environments. The human stories of the scientist are generally a bit dull, though some of the film detailing the issues that the expedition has are more interesting.

I've spent a lot of time with space and undersea documentaries recently and unfortunately, despite some decent moments, this is a bit of a misfire.

Worms nearly two meters long, blind crabs, a bio-mass of white shrimp. James Cameron takes the viewer on a journey to another world, an incredible underwater adventure that gives an extraordinary look at incredible creatures that live in an alien world, without sunlight, and where the water can be close to freezing or boiling temperature. Could these alien life forms be clues about life on other planets?

I was expecting something more terrifying, visually beautiful, narratively poetic, scientifically necessary, cute and cool... Long and a little boring or I just wasn't in the mood for this cute undersea movie... Beautiful images, beautiful soundtrack, boring theme, and boring... It didn't flow...

A failure on several levels...

Throughout his repertoire, Cameron has set out to film water, or more precisely, 'liquidity' -- it's his customary point of departure -- what world could be more cinematic?. It follows that he will try to make parallels between deep ocean and space exploration.

Cameron is also an unabashed showoff, so he must clutter every visual with gadgetry -- the 'look what I can do' factor -- as an unsubtle wink at the audience...every movie he makes.

The deep ocean photography should have been more than enough, but he then has to make a push for SETI and other 'cutting edge' research.

And therein lies a big problem. Cameron uses the most fecklessly infantile animation ever wedged into a big-budget movie, complete with little green men with sped-up voices (extended DVD version), and NASA probes that make noise in the vacuum while firing the retrorockets...this is no way to bolster science.

It all concludes with "The Abyss" finale of mirrored 'aliens' making 'friends' in the deep...how can one push forward cinematically by repeating one's own worst clunker?